Dementia Australia LIBRARY NEWS

New in the library 2019

2019-11-22T10:01:00.000+11:00

Resources including eResoures and articles are available to members of Dementia Australia.

*if you would like to join email us @ Library@dementia.org.au

As the year draws to a close let’s take a look at some of the new additions to the library. The following titles were all published in 2019 and can be found in our eCollection or if you would prefer to view a print copy get in touch with the library. Already read it! – we would love your feedback.

Namaste Care for People Living with Advanced Dementia/ Nicola Kendall (2019)

The Namaste Care approach is focused on giving comfort and pleasure to people with advanced dementia through sensory stimulation, especially the use of touch. This book provides extensive guidance on each stage of this process, including harnessing community interest, recruiting and training volunteers, and managing pain and discomfort.
This practical guide is a timely reminder of the power and value of informal care and compassionate communities in helping to care better for people with dementia, and would be of interest to carers, professionals and family members.

Read a sample from the eBook

Memory-wise : how memory works and what to do when it doesn’t / Anne Unkenstein (2019)

It’s common to be concerned about memory lapses, but how do you know if memory difficulties are normal or the beginnings of something more serious? Can dementia be prevented? Memory-wise explains how memory works and the changes that can occur as we age. It explains the sort of health, attitude and lifestyle factors that can lead to fluctuation in memory and provides practical tips to minimise their effects. Based on current research, Memory-wise examines memory during menopause and includes easy-to-follow suggestions for maintaining brain health, along with strategies for supporting memory in early dementia. We can all become more confident in managing memory.

Read a sample from the eBook

Faithful As She Fades : A Memoir of Love and Dementia / Robert Fischbach (2019)

Faithful As She Fades is the first-person account of Robert Fischbach’s journey as a caregiver to his beloved wife diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Having vowed to her that he would refrain from putting her in a facility, Bob found himself as the sole caretaker (until well into his wife’s illness) of a woman with whom he had raised two children and shared a long and happy marriage. From growing up Jewish in New York, to meeting his Janie and raising their two sons, Fischbach takes the reader on a heartfelt, emotional, sometimes funny and always moving journey through the decades he spent with his wife–and then through the near-decade in which he slowly had to let her go.

Read a sample from the eBook

Montessori Method for Connecting to People with Dementia: A Creative Guide to Communication and Engagement in Dementia Care / Tom Brenner & Karen Brenner (2019)

Creative activities can support people with dementia, leading to moments of reconnection and joy. This book shows how the Montessori method – with its arts-based, person-centred and positive focus – can help caregivers connect to people with dementia.

Drawing on 20 years of experience, Tom and Karen Brenner explain the philosophy of the Montessori method, provide clearly-written steps to follow when applying it, and share a wealth of case studies and stories from their personal work using this method with people with dementia.

Read a sample from the eBook

Clinician’s guide to non-pharmacological dementia therapies. / Daniel Nightingale (2019)

The book outlines a range of non-pharmacological therapies clinicians can adopt in their daily practice and sets out information and advice on each therapy and how to implement them in practice, illustrated with case studies and practical examples and drawing on the author’s own clinical work.

Many different therapies are discussed including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), and farm and ranch therapy. Each has been chosen for its own particular benefits, including early stage dementia and rarer forms, while others can be applied more generally.

Read a sample from the eBook

Fighting for My Life: How to Thrive in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s / Jamie Tyrone (2019)

Jamie Tyrone was forty-nine years old when she learned she had a genetic predisposition toward Alzheimer’s disease—in fact, her genes translated to a 91 percent chance that she would contract the disease during her lifetime. Surprised by the way she learned of the diagnosis through genetic testing, and painfully familiar with Alzheimer’s because of her family history and her experience as a nurse, Jamie felt as if she had a ticking time-bomb inside her, ready to go off at any moment.

Read a sample from the eBook

Dementia reimagined : building a life of joy and dignity from beginning to end / Tia Powell (2019)

Reimagining Dementia is a moving combination of medicine and memoir, peeling back the untold history of dementia, from the story of Solomon Fuller, a black doctor whose research at the turn of the twentieth century anticipated important aspects of what we know about dementia today. In demystifying dementia, Dr. Powell helps us understand it with clearer eyes, from the point of view of both physician and caregiver. Ultimately, she wants us all to know that dementia is not only about loss–it’s also about the preservation of dignity and hope”

Read a sample from the eBook

What dementia teaches us about love / Nicci Gerrard (2019)

After her own father’s death from dementia, the writer and campaigner Nicci Gerrard set out to explore the illness that now touches millions of us, yet which we still struggle to speak about. What does dementia mean, for those who live with it, and those who care for them?

This truthful, humane book is an attempt to understand. It is filled with stories, both moving and optimistic: from those living with dementia to those planning the end of life, from the scientists unlocking the mysteries of the brain to the therapists using art and music to enrich the lives of individuals, from the campaigners battling for greater compassion in care to the families trying to make sense of this ‘incomprehensible de-creation of the self’. It explores memory, language, identity, ageing and the notion of what it truly means to care.

Read a sample from the eBook

Using Technology in Dementia Care: A Guide to Technology Solutions for Everyday Living / by Arlene Astell, Sarah Kate Smith and Phil Joddrell (2019)

Many new pieces of technology can be beneficial to individuals living with dementia, including both hardware and software. This straightforward guide summarises the current research on this growing topic, and gives practical advice on how available technology can be used to improve the everyday lives of people with dementia.

Looking at a range of available products, such as off-the-shelf computers and smartphones, to dementia specific applications and programs, it also addresses some common obstacles and barriers faced when introducing technology in dementia care.

Read a sample from the eBook

Dementia friendly worship: A Multifaith Handbook for Chaplains, Clergy and Faith Communities / Edited by Virginia Biggar, Lynda Everman and Steven M. Rabbi Glazer (2019)

Religious faith can often be a source of reassurance for individuals and families facing dementia, yet many faith leaders lack the know-how to adapt their ministries to help this group to draw comfort from their faith. Compiled by around 50 different authors, this collection represents diverse faith traditions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Native American, and how each tradition can offer support to people with dementia. Providing an understanding of the cognitive, communicative and physical abilities of people with dementia, it shows what chaplains, clergy and lay persons can do to engage with them through worship.

Read a sample from the eBook

Evidence-based practice in dementia for nurses and nursing students / edited by Karen Harrison Dening ; foreword by Alistair Burns. (2019)

Each of the 25 chapters are written by experts in the field of dementia care and are grounded in thoroughly researched, up-to-date evidence, have a direct bearing to nurse practice, and use case studies to give examples of application of the evidence to practice. It begins by introducing dementia as a diagnosis, a syndrome, and a set of diseases, signs and symptoms. It then deals with various principles that underpin dementia care,
including person-centred care, behaviours that challenge, risk management, and understanding relationships affected by dementia. Finally, it assesses dementia care across a range of care settings, such as primary care, care homes, domiciliary care, acute hospital, and hospice services.

Read a sample from the eBook

Be With Letters to a Carer / Mike Barnes (2019)

Poet Mike Barnes has spent years caring for his mother, Mary, through the stages of moderate, severe, very severe and late-stage Alzheimer’s. In an eloquent series of letters, addressed to an anonymous long-term dementia carer, he transforms his own increasingly challenging experience into a wellspring of clarity and understanding, support and solace.
This is no ordinary practical care guide. Using bite-sized paragraphs perfectly designed for harried carers to dip into, Barnes tells a compelling personal story that unfolds a side of dementia almost entirely missing from public discussion:
‘All people with dementia, and some of them strikingly, show depths of sensitive awareness, resilience rising to heroism, and a capacity for joyful relatedness.’

Read a sample from the eBook

Communication skills for effective dementia care : a practical guide to communication and interaction training (CAIT) / edited by Ian Andrew James and Laura Gibbons (2019)

Effective communication is critical for everyone, and this insightful book teaches the skills needed by healthcare staff in their day-to-day interactions with people with dementia and their families. Often when people with dementia exhibit behaviour that challenges, it is an indication that their needs are not being met. The authors illustrate the key aspects of communication for the development of a skilled and confident workforce, capable of providing thoroughly effective care that reduces levels of agitation in people with dementia.

Read a sample from the eBook

Dear Alzheimer’s : a diary of living with dementia / Keith Oliver (2019)

Keith Oliver was diagnosed with young onset dementia in 2010, and has since become a leading activist for dementia care, and an international speaker. Telling his story through a diary format, this book gives an unparalleled insight into what day-to-day life with dementia is like, and how he continued to live a full life after diagnosis.

Read a sample from the eBook

Art therapy with older adults : connected and empowered / Erin Partridge (2019)

Advocating for a more collaborative approach to art-making, the author presents approaches and directives designed to facilitate community engagement, stimulate intellectual and emotional exploration, and promote a sense of individual and collective empowerment. Relevant to community, assisted living, skilled nursing and dementia-care environments, it includes detailed case studies and ideas for using art therapy to tackle stigma around stroke symptoms and dementia, encourage increased interactions between older adults in care homes, promote resilience, and much more.

Read a sample from the eBook

CLEAR Dementia Care : a model to assess and address unmet needs / Dr. Frances Duffy (2019)

he CLEAR Dementia Care (c) model is an effective method of assessing behaviour that challenges, through an understanding that such behaviour may be a way of communicating unmet needs. This book explains the many factors that contribute to challenging behaviour and how a greater understanding of this can enhance quality of life and lead to better care for the person with dementia in both hospital and residential settings.

Read a sample from the eBook

Practical Nutrition and Hydration for Dementia Friendly Mealtimes / Lee Martin (2019)

Due to the related cognitive decline, the majority of people with dementia will experience a reduction in mealtime abilities at some stage of the disease. Changes in mealtime abilities can lead to malnutrition and related issues for the person with dementia, and feelings of powerlessness and worry for carers. Despite this, there is a current lack of information on how to deal with this complex issue. In this accessible guide, Lee Martin offers simple, practical and cost-effective solutions to ensure healthy and enjoyable eating for people with dementia. Presenting clinical advice in everyday language, this is the perfect book for unpaid carers and healthcare professionals alike.

Read a sample from the eBook

Journal of Dementia care - Vol 27 No 3 May June 2019

2019-06-11T12:33:00.000+10:00

Resources including eResoures and articles are available to members of Dementia Australia Library.
*You can request items by emailing Library@dementia.org.au

The future of technology in dementia detection and care

Smart technologies will one day transform the detection, care and treatment of dementia, says Thomas Sawyer. He looks at what the future holds as artificial intelligence replaces pen and paper pg 12

Good morning Alexa: what can you do for me today?

If you believe Amazon, the company’s voice-activated assistant Alexa will run your life for you if you let it. But is it true? We asked some people living with young onset dementia to tell us how they use Alexa and whether she is good value pg 14

*(what is Alexa –“Amazon Alexa, is a virtual assistant developed by Amazon, first used in the Amazon Echo and the Amazon Echo Dot smart speakers developed by Amazon Lab126. It is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, sports, and other real-time information, such as news. Alexa can also control several smart devices using itself as a home automation system. Users are able to extend the Alexa capabilities by installing "skills" (additional functionality developed by third-party vendors, in other settings more commonly called apps such as weather programs and audio features “- Wikipedia).

LGBT awareness training: learning from Australia

Allison O’Kelly travelled the length and breadth of Australia to research awareness and care for LGBT people who develop dementia. She found widespread good practice, initiatives and training materials, and much for the UK to emulate pg 16

‘Dear Alzheimer’s’: a diary of living with dementia

Then a primary school head teacher in Kent, Keith Oliver was just 54 when he was diagnosed with young onset Alzheimer’s. In his new book, a diary of living with dementia, he talks about the experience and all that has happened since. pg 18

Placing faith in relationships

Is evidence-based practice always desirable? Luke Tanner argues for a different approach based on emotionally fulfilling relationships… pg 20

Features

Young dementia: the specialist keyworker role

Young onset dementia (YOD) too often goes unrecognised and services are frequently sparse and uncoordinated. Jacqueline Hussey and Hilda Hayo make the case for specialist keyworkers who can help people with YOD find the right support

…pg 25

A different understanding: a conversation about art

Art enables us to see dementia as much more than a biomedical condition. Hannah Zeilig and Julian Hughes engage in conversation about how artistic collaboration can help people with dementia connect with the world around them … 28

Good design for people with dementia in hospital

Hospital environments can have a big influence on the wellbeing of patients with dementia. In the third article of our series on hospital dementia care, Sarah Waller sets out principles of good design

… pg32

Communication training: creating videos together

A study of everyday interactions between people with dementia and their supporters gave valuable insights into the principles of good communication. Joseph Webb and colleagues report on their findings pg 36

Book reviews

Reducing the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease and other dementias : a personal guide to cognitive rehabilitation techniques

*available on our eLibrary also

Practical and innovative, this book provides guidance for people with dementia, their families and carers. Comprehensive myth-busting information on nutrition, stress, communication, sleep and cognitive rehabilitation techniques will allow readers to build a personalised self-care plan to reduce dementia symptoms and improve quality of life.

This book is hopeful in tone, showing people with dementia how they might go about regaining skills and maximising their brain’s capacity to function. It is written in accessible language, making the science intelligible to the lay person.

Will I still be me? : finding a continuing sense of self in the lived experience of dementia

*Also available in our eLibrary

“I wake up each day and still feel like Christine, even if I do not know what day it is or what happened yesterday!” (p56) These are the words of Christine Bryden, who has lived with dementia since 1995 and in her latest book argues persuasively that the loss of cognitive abilities in dementia should not be equated with the loss of a sense of self.

Encouraging a deeper understanding of how individuals live meaningfully with dementia, the book challenges the dominant story of people with dementia 'fading away' to eventually become an 'empty shell'. It explores what it means to be an embodied self with feelings and emotions, how individuals can relate to others despite cognitive changes and challenges to communications, and what this means for the inclusion of people with dementia in society.

New books for the healthcare professionals

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Resources including eResoures and articles are available to members of Dementia Australia Library.

The dementia manifesto : putting values-based practice to work
by Julian Hughes ad Toby Willianson
In this book we want to pause to reflect on other aspects of dementia because, as we shall argue, despite everything else about it, dementia is also a way of seeing more clearly the human condition. In the face of a threat to our lives and to our standing as persons with relationships and a sense of dignity and worth, we would argue that it's quite natural to ponder on some of the deeper aspects of our being in, or engagement with, the world. These ponderings are pertinent to us all, not just to those of us who will get or are already living with dementia.

How we think about dementia: personhood, rights, ethics, the arts and what they mean for care
by Julian Hughes
Exploring concepts of ageing, personhood, capacity, liberty, best interests and the nature and ethics of palliative care, this book will help those in the caring professions to understand and engage with the thoughts and arguments underpinning the experience of dementia and dementia care.
Dementia is associated with ageing: what is the significance of this? People speak about person-centred care, but what is personhood and how can it be maintained? What is capacity, and how is it linked with the way a person with dementia is cared for as a human being? How should we think about the law in relation to the care of older people? Is palliative care the right approach to dementia, and if so what are the consequences of this view? What role can the arts play in ensuring quality of life for people with dementia? also on eBook - How we think about dementia

Dementia as social experience : valuing life and care

This innovative volume brings together an interdisciplinary group of researchers and practitioners to focus on dementia as lived experience. It foregrounds dementia’s social, moral, political and economic dimensions, investigating the challenges of reframing the dementia experience for all involved. Part I critiques the stigmas, the negativity, language and fears often associated with a dementia diagnosis, challenging debilitating representations and examining ways to tackle these. Part II examines proactive practices that can support better long-term outcomes for those living with dementia. Part III looks at the relational aspects of dementia care, acknowledging and going beyond the notion of person-centred care. Collectively, these contributions highlight the social and relational change required to enhance life for those with dementia and those who care for them.

The Perspectives of People with Dementia
People with dementia have often played a passive role in the investigation of their condition. The contributors to this book look at ways of redressing the balance and involving them in the research process. They describe the skills that researchers and care staff need, and the methods they can use, when seeking to draw out and validate the views of people with dementia successfully, and discuss the ways in which such views can be included in debates about dementia methodology and policy.

The book focuses on a number of projects which have taken different approaches to working with people with dementia in research, including a chapter examining the difficult process of interviewing people with dementia whose first language is not English and a chapter describing a project which encourages people with dementia to participate in the analysis of the research findings. This varied and innovative book will help those in the fields of health and social policy, dementia research and dementia care to hear the voices of people with dementia more clearly, and to include their opinions more effectively in the provision of services. * also in the eLibrary

Supporting people with learning disabilities and dementia - training pack : a training pack for support staff

Within this pack you should find everything needed to deliver individual training sessions or, combined, as a half or full day training course.
Included in the pack are four resources - The trainer guidelines, including the Powerpoints, resources and handouts needed to run the training.

Supporting people with learning disabilities and dementia self-study guide

Tools are included as part of each topic. They may be copied as handouts, or used as part
of staff discussions. Some can also be displayed or available in a designated staff area for
staff to read.

Supporting Derek : a practice development guide to support staff working with
people who have a learning difficulty and dementia [kit]

This training pack aimed at those supporting people with learning difficulties
who have or may develop dementia. It will assist people in providing high
quality,individual care for people with a learning difficulty and dementia.
'Supporting Derek' is a practice resource pack based on extensive research
by experts in the field. Including a DVD and training pack, it covers many
of the key issues related to diagnosing and responding to dementia in people
with learning difficulties.
The short drama included on the DVD (acted out by people with a learning
difficulty) gives a powerful insight into the reality of dementia and how it might
feel to the individual affected.
Young onset dementia : a guide to recognition, diagnosis, and supporting individuals
with dementia and their families

Providing key information and insight into the experiences of people living with a diagnosis

of young onset dementia, this book will increase the knowledge and skills of health and

social care professionals in the early recognition, diagnosis and support of young people with

dementia and their families.The book explores the experiences of people living with a

diagnosis of young onset dementia through detailed case studies, and gives learning points

to implement in practice for the better provision of appropriate support and care. It explains

the need for adapting services which are often designed for older people, and how the

complicated diagnostic process can lead to misdiagnosis among younger people. Key issues

are considered, including at-risk groups, work and dealing with potential loss of employment,

changes in personal and family relationships, readjusting life expectations and plans, and

social isolation.* also available on the eLibrary

Alzheimer's disease and dementia : what everyone needs to know

This book contributes what is urgently missing from public knowledge: unsparing

investigation of their causes and manifestations, and focus on the strengths possessed by

people diagnosed. Steven R. Sabat mines a large body of research to convey the genetic

and biological aspects of Alzheimer's disease, its clinical history, and, most significantly,

to reveal the subjective experience of those with Alzheimer's or dementia. Sabat corrects

dangerous misconceptions that plague our understanding of memory dysfunction and many

other significant abilities that people with AD and dementia possess even in the moderate to severe stages.

People diagnosed with AD retain awareness, thinking ability, and sense of self; crucially,

Sabat demonstrates that there are ways to facilitate communication even when the person with

AD has great difficulty finding the words he or she wants to use.

Sabat strives to inform as well as to remind readers of the respect and empathy owed to

those diagnosed and living with dementia, and conveys the type of information and more,

which, when applied by family and professional caregivers, will help improve the quality of

life of those diagnosed as well as of those who provide support and care.