A Guide to Helping and
Enjoying the
Alzheimer's Victim You Love
By
Barbara S. Smith M.S., OTR/L
The title of this book reflects one of the
few remaining motor
acts my mother is able to perform. Yet, this is a highly significant
motor act, one
that symbolizes a continuing connectedness
between myself and the Alzheimer's victim I
love.
I had never planned to work in the area of geriatrics. But when
my
mother developed Alzheimer's disease I was thrust into
the world of home care,
Medicare, assisted living and nursing
homes. I read numerous books and learned the lingo of lawyers,
the health care bureaucracy and
gerontology.
Fortunately, as an occupational therapist I have years of experience
adapting environments and creating activities for developmentally
disabled
individuals. Now I want to share what I have learned and
created during the past
eight years to help my mother utilize her
remaining functional skills and
enjoy life.
There are many books on the market that describe the symptoms
and stages of Alzheimer's disease and behavioral interventions
that promote
function. Often this information is dry and overwhelming.
There are also many
highly readable memoirs that give the spouse,
adult-children and the victim's
point of view. Still Giving Kisses
provides
the best of both worlds. You will read a compelling memoir of a woman
whose earlier mental health problems compounded the many challenges
of memory impairment. The many
therapeutic techniques, adaptations
and teaching tools I share are all tricks
of the occupational
therapy trade with my added touch. Extensive resources and medical,
legal and care-giving information provide survival tools.
Although I wrote this book primarily for friends and family of
Alzheimer's
victims, Still Giving Kisses
provides a
framework for health care
professionals entering the field of geriatrics. Indeed, I wish this
resource
had been available
when my mother mother began showing the earliest
symptoms.
Still Giving Kisses