Six Steps to Managing Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia : A Guide for Families

Your needs as a caregiver are just as important as those your family member with Alzheimer's Disease or dementia. This book will provide just the insight and guidance you need. Caregiving for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease or dementia is hard. It's hard whether you're caring for your spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling, other family member, or friend. Even if you had an extra ten hours each day to do it, it's hard to manage all the problems that come with dementia. And caring for a loved one with dementia can sometimes feel like a long, lonely journey. Six Steps to Managing Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia can help, addressing concerns such as: · Is the problem Alzheimer's, dementia, or something else? · How do you approach problems in dementia? · How do you manage problems with memory, language, and vision? · How do you cope with emotional and behavioral problems? · What are the best ways to manage troubles with sleep and incontinence? · Which medications can help? · Which medications can actually make things worse? · How do you build your care team? · Why is it important to care for yourself? · How do you sustain your relationship with your loved one? · How do you plan for the progression of dementia? · How do you plan for the end and beyond? Six Steps to Managing Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia is comprehensive yet written in an easy-to-read style, featuring clinical vignettes and character-based stories that provide real-life examples of how to successfully manage Alzheimer's disease and dementia. cover 1 Six Steps to Managing Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Preface 8 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction 14 Step 1 18 1 What is dementia? 20 2 What is Alzheimer’s disease? 28 3 Which other disorders cause dementia? 36 Step 2 48 4 How to approach problems in dementia 50 5 How to manage memory problems 66 6 How to manage language problems 92 7 How to manage vision problems 102 8 How to manage emotional problems 114 9 How to manage behavioral problems 126 10 How to manage sleep problems 148 11 How to manage problems with bodily functions 158 Step 3 174 12 Which medications can worsen thinking, memory, behavior, or function? 176 13 Which medications can improve thinking, memory, behavior, or function? 198 Step 4 220 14 Why and how should you care for yourself? 222 15 How do you build your care team? 238 Step 5 254 16 Why is it important to sustain your relationship? 256 17 What are some ways to sustain your relationship? 266 step 6 278 18 How to plan for the progression of dementia 280 19 How to plan for the end and beyond 298 Glossary (with additional disorders and neuroanatomy) 316 Further resources 326 About the authors 330 Index 334 "Everyone is familiar with the terms "dementia" and "Alzheimer's disease," but not everyone knows exactly what they mean and how they are related. To begin our journey, we first need to develop a clear understanding of what dementia and Alzheimer's disease are"-- Provided by publisher