Reading Well for Dementia

When a loved one has been diagnosed with dementia, many family members assume new roles as carers, helping their relative to remain safe, happy and as independent as possible. This text presents a practical, realistic and reassuring guide to help you and the person with dementia on the journey ahead. Written by a real carer with first-hand experience of the challenges dementia poses, the book is full of essential advice, personal insights and helpful strategies.

Presenting the most up-to-date information available about dementia and intellectual disabilities, this book brings together the latest international research and evidence-based practice, and describes clearly the relevance and implications for support and services. Recognised experts from the UK, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands discuss good practice and the way forward in relation to assessment, diagnosis, interventions, staff knowledge and training, care pathways, service design, measuring outcomes and the experiences of individuals, families and carers.

The nostalgic memoir of a young man, eldest of 14, growing up in 40s Wolverhampton. The heartbreaking true account of his son struggling to come to terms with his father's dementia. A tribute to the unbreakable bond between father and son. When Simon McDermott first noticed his dad Ted's sudden flares of temper and fits of forgetfulness, he couldn't have guessed what lay ahead. Then came the devastating, inevitable diagnosis. As Ted retreated into his own world, Simon and his mum Linda desperately tried to reach him until at last: an idea. Turning the ignition in his mum's little runaround, Simon hit play on Ted's favourite song 'Quando Quando Quando'. And like that, they were just two mates driving around Blackburn, singing at the top of their lungs. Simon filmed their adventure, uploaded the video to YouTube and woke up to messages, tweets and his phone ringing off the hook.

In December 2019, soon after her mother's untimely death to dementia, Shobna Gulati discovered a box tucked away amongst her mother's possessions. In it lay a catalogue of cut-out clippings of every time Shobna's name had been mentioned in the press. What was strange about this discovery was that throughout Shobna's life her mother had barely mentioned her daughter's career highs nor the box of memories she'd filed them into. In this deeply moving, tender and humorous memoir, a daughter sets out to reclaim her mother's past after her death and bring it into the present.

There can be a lot of understandable fear and worry when a loved one receives a diagnosis of dementia. Whilst the stigma of dementia can be powerful it should not restrict a person from finding meaning and purpose in life. Psychologists Dr Michelle Hamill and Dr Martina McCarthy believe that a holistic and relationship-centred understanding of dementia can help to acknowledge the challenges of the condition, whilst enabling people to live with dignity. This book provides insights and ideas to improve quality of life for both you and your loved one, drawing on the experiences of people who are caring for a person with dementia from our services.

I love visiting my grandma. We read together, play her piano, feed the birds in the garden and we love looking through her big box of photos. But when Grandma starts to forget who the people in the photographs are, Mum explains that Grandma is living with something called dementia. She says, 'Grandma is still the person we know and love, she's just a little different now.' Here is a reassuring story about the love between a little girl and her grandma, with practical information to help young children understand dementia and the changes it can bring.

This title captures the real life tales of people with dementia, and from the loved ones and professional carers who support them. Stories from families living with the realities of dementia are illustrated in a humorous but moving style and will be relatable and supportive for anyone touched by dementia in their lives.

'Grandma Farida has Alzheimer's - but I'm going to help her remember a huge secret'. Twelve-year-old Nyla's dad died when she was four, or that's what she's been told. So when Grandma Farida insists she saw him in the local supermarket, Nyla wonders if Grandma is simply 'time travelling' again - the phrase she uses when Grandma forgets. But Grandma is Nyla's best friend and when she asks Nyla to find her dad and bring him home, she decides to make a brand new promise to her Grandma - to find him. As Nyla turns detective and sets out on a journey through her family's past to try and find the truth, she also hopes that uncovering important stories will help her understand who she is, and where she fits in the world.

Aunt Zelda has a gift to give to Elmer from his Grandpa Eldo, but she can't remember what it is or where it is. Zelda's memory sometimes escapes her, and her hearing isn't what it used to be, so they set off together to find Grandpa Eldo and solve the mystery of the forgotten gift.

Explaining the complex concepts of dementia - such as brain function, disease progression and death - in a direct and age-appropriate way, as well as exploring children's feelings about these issues, this book caters for children aged 4+ who have a loved one at any stage of dementia.

When Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 58, she had to say goodbye to the woman she once was. Her career in the NHS, her ability to drive, cook and run - the various shades of her independence - were suddenly gone. Yet Wendy was determined not to give in. She was, and still is, propelled by a need to live in the moment, never knowing which version of herself might surface tomorrow. In this phenomenal memoir, Wendy grapples with questions most of us have never had to consider. What do you value when loss of memory reframes what you have, how you have lived and what you stand to lose? What happens when you can no longer recognise your own daughters, or even, on the foggiest of days, yourself?

When Ron Husband started to forget things - dates, names, appointments - daft things, important things - it took a while to realise that this was 'a different form of forgetting'. But it was the first sign of the illness that gradually took him away from the family he loved.

In 2003, England won the Rugby World Cup. Steve Thompson was there, in England's front row, at the heart of the match, and at the heart of the scrum - one of sport's most destructive, repetitive impacts. But the triumphs came at a cost. When rugby union turned professional, Steve was plunged into a game where raw power meant everything. Today, he remembers nothing about playing in that final. In his words, watching the tape back is like watching a ghost. The years of hurt in an era of professional meat shields, and the culture of sucking up punishment and coming back for more, have taken a terrible toll. Steve has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy. He is in his early forties. There are days when he doesn't remember the names of his wife and four kids. But Steve doesn't hate the game of rugby. He wants to change it.

An account of a year in the life of Peter Berry, an ordinary man living in a sleepy Suffolk village. Happily married and running a successful business, Peter's life changes when, at the age of fifty, he is given a terminal diagnosis of early-onset dementia.

Using step-by-step ideas designed to stimulate and entertain, dementia care specialist Helen Lambert explains how engaging in a variety of simple activities can benefit different parts of the brain and help to keep your mind fitter for longer. What's more, everyone can join in: each activity contains hints and tips that not only show you how to do it, but also include ways to adapt the various physical exercises, games, and craft projects for different abilities, or to include family and friends.

This wide-ranging book takes a person-centred approach to supporting the person and their families/carers to live with dementia and challenge the stigma attached to the condition. Divided into four parts, it starts with the voices of people with dementia themselves, as they describe their own experience and how they are living with the disease. It moves on to look at how the range of caring and support professions can help people living with dementia and their families plan and prepare for and cope better with their deteriorating condition. It then turns to practical aspects of living with dementia – dementia in the workplace, communication, safety and the role of technology and design in prolonging independence – and day-to-day considerations, such as managing insomnia and eating well. It ends with an inspiring section on the many imaginative ways people with dementia can be helped to discover and continue to enjoy cultural and creative activities that celebrate their lives and promote their abilities.

A major effect of dementia is its impact on communication. Alison Wray explains why the changes occur and offers practical ideas for avoiding key pitfalls. With attention also to the fraught question of well-intentioned lying, this book offers a wealth of ways to improve conversations and relationships when someone is living with a dementia.

This essential guidebook presents the wide range of issues faced by family carers and dementia patients. Grounded in real stories, the book includes case studies, frequently asked questions and expert advice.

Will my partner stop loving me now they have dementia? Does my mum have to go into a home now? Is dementia a terminal illness? All these questions, and hundreds more, are covered in this short but powerful, helpful, practical guide to understanding the nature, and impact, of dementia. Read at your leisure, or dip in and out when you most need the support or to shine a light on the issues and concerns that are making you uncomfortable or unhappy, and to bring them out of the shadows so you can understand and accept them.

Practical self-help strategies for older individuals and their families to help slow the onset of Mild Cognitive Impairment. Includes activities, health and lifestyle changes, memory aids, therapies and technological aids. Also suitable for those with early stage dementia wishing to prevent the condition worsening.