CARING TODAY'S CAREGIVER LIBRARY
Books, videos and CDs to help you with caregiving and specific diseases
Videos/Audios
The Family Guide to Alzheimer's Disease, a set of five videos (DVD or VHS) hosted by Leeza Gibbons, helps families understand what to expect with Alzheimer's and offers practical advice on caring for a loved one with the disease. Each volume addresses a particular aspect of the condition, from diagnosing it to coping with loss.
Health Journeys®: A Meditation with Parkinson's Disease by Belleruth Naparstek, LISW, is this guided-imagery pioneer's CD focusing on relaxation techniques to regulate mood, encourage balance and good posture, counter fatigue, increase muscle control and alleviate depression in PD patients.
Quick Tips for Caregivers by Marion Karpinski, RN, (Healing Arts Communications) covers just about anything a caregiver needs to do. Also available from Healing Arts and Karpinski are more topic-specific DVDs such as Personal Care, offering respectful and hygienic bathing techniques, grooming tips and more, plus Caring for Someone with Mid- to Late-Stage Alzheimer's Disease, which honestly discusses physiological and behavioral changes to expect.
Yoga for the Rest of Us, by certified yoga instructor Peggy Cappy, demonstrates how learning to pay attention to sensations in your body lets you know when you've done enough, but also gently shows how to increase circulation to help relieve joint pain. Available from www.peggycappy.com for $19.95.
Books
101 Tips for Raising Healthy Kids with Diabetes by Laura Hieronymus, MSEd, APRN, BC-ADM, CDE and Patti Geil, MS, RD, FADA, CDE (American Diabetes Association), which covers in Q&A format the info you need regarding medical matters, activities, diet and more as it relates to kids from tots to teens.
The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for Persons with Alzheimer's Disease, Related Dementing Illnesses and Memory Loss in Later Life by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins (Warner Books) is a comprehensive guide to help families cope with the disease and provides info on research, meds and genetic aspects of Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's: A Caregiver's Guide and Sourcebook by Howard Gruetzner. This critically acclaimed guide, recommended by the Alzheimer's Association, takes caregivers through vital areas of concern, including disease symptoms and progression; treatments; financing treatment and care; emotional scenarios including grief, stress and depression; finding support; and medical research.
Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece, Ami Simms,curator (Mallery Press), documents beautiful images of 52 quilts that are part of the traveling-quilt exhibition of the same name. Sponsored by the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (www.AlzQuilts.org), the artists from 30 states and New Zealand offer poignant interpretations of Alzheimer's in fiber, stressing themes of an existence stripped of memory and learning, life with anger and frustration and caregiving, and tributes to loved ones taken by Alzheimer's. Artists' comments on their works are included.
The Baby Boomer's Guide to Nursing Home Care by Eric M. Carlson and Katharine Hsaio is Q&A-formatted to allow these two attorneys from the National Senior Law Center to use their 30-plus years of combined experience to explain how to deal with common eldercare issues such as choosing a nursing home; paying for care; and resident's rights regarding decision-making, food choice, daily-living issues and more.
Caring for Yourself While Caring for Your Aging Parents: How to Help, How to Survive by Claire Berman
Comfort Prayers: Prayers & Poems to Comfort, Encourage and Inspire by June Cotner (Andrews McMeel Publishing) may lift your spirits when you're feeling sad or overwhelmed.
The Complete Medical Guide for the Family Caregiver, edited by Jeffery A. West, MD (Lifeline Press). Touted as the "authoritative, at-home companion for giving the best care," this reference tool is recommended by Gail Gibson Hunt, who is director of the National Alliance for Caregiving and a Caring Today advisory board member. Hunt says this book provides "very comprehensive and valuable information for family caregivers on a wide range of tasks, including some which are often left out of other caregiver guides." Among topics covered: In-home safety; treatment of serious diseases, from Alzheimer's to diabetes to hearing and vision disorders, Parkinson's, cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, MS and more; and self-care for the caregiver.
Cooking Beyond Measure: How to Eat Well Without Formal Recipes (Seventy-Sixth Avenue Press). This book from Caring Today contributor Jean Johnson is not your traditional cookbook. Rather, Johnson steps away from level-teaspoon-of-this-and-a-cup-of-that instructions and encourages experimenting with what's at hand, by pinch and handful. The instructions are conversational and the dishes inviting.
Coping with Depression: From Catch-22 to Hope by Jon G. Allen, MD, (American Psychiatric Publishing) probes and explains in easy-to-understand ways the causes, symptoms, evolution and treatment of depression to give both patients and caregivers a chance to take action.
The Diabetes Snack Munch Nibble Nosh Book by Ruth Glick (American Diabetes Association) provides healthful treat ideas that are easy to make and a ton of fun to eat.
A Dignified Life: The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer's Care—A Guide for Family Caregivers by Virginia Bell, MSW, and David Troxel, a recommended selection by the Alzheimer's Association. Ms. Bell developed the award-winning Helping Hand Adult Day Center in Lexington, Kentucky; Mr. Troxel is executive director of California Central Coast chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.
The Essential Guide to Prescription Drugs 2006: Everything You Need to Know for Safe Drug Use by James R. Rybacki (HarperCollins) simply and clearly explains benefits and risks, how a drug works, dangerous combinations, interaction with herbal medicines, special precautions to be taken by those over 60 and more.
Essential Musical Intelligence (Quest Books) by Louise Montello, PhD, a board-certified musical therapist, demonstrates and explains music-therapy techniques to assist with diaphragmatic breathing, use of music for pain reduction and more.
A Family Caregiver Speaks Up: "It Doesn't Have to Be This Hard" (Capital Books) by Suzanne Geffen Mintz, president and co-founder of the National Family Caregivers Association, with a foreword by Kathleen A. Kelly, executive director of the Family Caregiver Alliance. This update, after five years, of Mintz's Love, Honor & Value, says psychologist and author Barry J. Jacobs, PsyD, "displays the passionate resolve of the most tenaciously committed family caregivers combined with the eminent good sense of the most resourceful ones."
Happy New Year to You! A Read-Aloud Book for Memory-Challenged Adults (Health Professions Press) by Lydia Burdick, with illustrations by Jane Freeman, invites you to sit beside your loved one and turn the pages together as the book spans both your lap and hers. Simple text and colorful art take readers through a year of holidays and seasonal activities, inspiring communication and reminiscences.
The Healthy Lunchbox: How to Plan, Prepare & Pack Stress-Free Meals Kids Will Love by Marie McClendon, MEd, and Cristy Shauck (Small Step Press) is aimed at all kids, not just those with diabetes, but offers universal tips on how getting kids involved, steering your grocery cart toward healthful foods, creating shopping lists and more to assist families with special eating needs, whether that involves diabetes, celiac disease, food allergies-or just stubborn pickiness!
Help Me Live: 20 Things People with Cancer Want You to Know (Celestial Arts) by Lori Hope provides information "to ensure we communicate effectively—not to say the ‘right thing,’ but to…make those who are ill feel better rather than worse.” Each chapter explains what those who are ailing want to hear—and not hear—from those who want to help physically, socially or emotionally. As Hope explains, "The book is designed as food for thought" in which "stories unfold, providing examples of words and deeds that have helped and…harmed people with cancer.”
How to Say It® to Seniors: Closing the Communication Gap with Our Elders by David Solie, MS, PA (Prentice Hall) is a tool to assist you in learning the right questions and conversation techniques, as well as the right phraseology to promote discussion and reduce argumentation while honoring the elder and respecting his or her sense of legacy.
In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing by Lee Woodruff and Bob Woodruff (Random House), examines life before and after Bob's having suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of an explosive attack while he was reporting for ABC News from Iraq. According to Caring Today Editor-in-Chief Susan Strecker Richard, the book was "so readable, riveting, clear-eyed and thoughtful that I went from first page to last over a busy weekend.... [It] is really a portrait of a marriage, offering up the texture of their relationship and what binds people during thick and thin."
Learning to Speak Alzheimer's by Joanne Koenig Coste (Houghton Mifflin) is a manual focusing on practical tips for caregivers and is based on the author's experiences of caring for her husband.
Lessons from Joan: Living and Loving with Cancer, a Husband's Story by Eric R. Kingson (Syracuse University Press) is an unflinching look at the nearly three years this Syracuse University professor and his family experienced while living under the shadow of his wife's illness that discusses how they sought out state-of-the-art care, made healthcare decisions and dealt with both happy times and struggles.
Measure of the Heart: A Father's Alzheimer's, a Daughter's Return by Mary Ellen Geist (Springboard Press). The world-traveling, career-oriented broadcast journalist returns to her childhood home in Michigan to help with the care of her father, whose dementia is ever-worsening. Includes a foreword by famed neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks. CLICKE HERE to read our interview with the author.
The Merck Manual of Health & Aging (Merck Research Laboratories), provides over 900 pages dedicated to helping you understand health disorders and navigate the healthcare system. Focuses on legal, financial and ethical issues, as well as providing drug information and resources.
Mothballs in My Attic (MIMA Publications) by Cindy O'Neill and Barbara Iderosa. The sister authors take you and your loved one down memory lane with the concept that a single word can spark a "web of memories." Offering over 200 opportunities to "complete the sentence" about the past with a loved one in order to connect with times gone by, this is a great book for any family and especially helpful for sparking exchanges with those with Alzheimer's or dementia. Available at mothballsinmyattic.com, or make check payable to: MIMA Publications, 173 Maple Avenue, Metuchen, NJ 08840 ($19.95, plus $5.95 s&h; NJ residents add 7% sales tax).
Moving for Seniors: A Step-by-Step Workbook by Barbara H. Morris is a hands-on guide written by a move manager that includes questionnaires, checklists, suggestions and resources.
My Diabetes OrganizerTM by Gina Barbetta, MS, RD, CDE, CD-N, and Valerie Rossi is a spiral-bound hardcover book designed to help those with type 2 diabetes keep all the info they need neatly in one place.
Nancy Drew's Guide to Life by Jennifer Worick (Running Press) offers the spunky sleuth's clues to solving everyday problems such as this gem from The Hidden Staircase: "The best way to clear one's mind is to commune with nature."
The New American Heart Association Cookbook (seventh edition, Crown) includes more than 600 heart-healthy recipes and loads of info on the connection between eating well and your well-being.
Overactive Bladder: Where to Stop Travel Guide for Older Americans by Arthur Frommer is the travel expert's 75-page guide to the location of restrooms at restaurants, museums and other tourist attractions in 19 major U.S. cities and four national parks. Created in conjunction with Novartis and available for free from wheretostopwheretogo.com.
Overcoming Anxiety for Dummies by Charles H. Elliott, PhD, and Laura L. Smith, PhD, is a simple guidebook to assuage the common caregiver ailment.
The PDR Pocket Guide to Prescription Drugs, 7th Edition (Pocket Books) contains short, fact-filled entries that explain why a specific drug would be prescribed, key facts about its use and side effects, what to do if you miss a dose and more.
Self-Nurture: Learning to Care for Yourself as Effectively as You Care for Others by Alice D. Domar, PhD, director of the Domar Center for Complementary Healthcare in Waltham, MA.
Senior Days: Insightful Tales and No-Nonsense Help from the Frontlines of Eldercare, by Colleen Nicol wiwth Brian Nicol (Long Lake Press), is filled with stories, resources and tips from professional caregiver Colleen Nicol. She details successes, failures and disappointments from which to learn. Perfect for those newly entering the caregiving fast lane. [Ed. Note: Some proceeds go to Alzheimer's research.]
Share the Care: How to Organize a Group to Care for Someone Who Is Seriously Ill by Cappy Capossela and Sheila Warnock (Fireside) provides a model for creating and coordinating teams o family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and acquaintances based on the authors' experiences and inclusive of end-of-chapter exercises, lists and ideas to assist you.
The Sunshine on My Face: A Read-Aloud Book for Memory-Challenged Adults by Lydia Burdick, with illustrations by Jane Freeman, is a Two-Lap® BookTM aimed at eliciting loving memories and meaningful conversations between the Alzheimer's patient and her caregiver.
The Total Cancer Wellness Guide by Kim Thiboldeaux and Mitch Golant, PhD, uses evidence-based research, first-person testimony and professional guidance to lend support and offer hope for people affected by cancer. From the Wellness Community, a 225-year-old non-profit international organization offering free support and education to cancer patients, their families and caregivers. (BenBella Books, $24.95).
Twelve Tips for Caregivers from the Johnson & Johnson/Rosalynn Carter Institute Caregivers Program, available online at www.rosalynncarter.org or by phone at 229-928-1234.
What's Happening to Grandpa? By Maria Shriver, with illustrations by Sandra Speidel (Little Brown Children's Books/Warner Books): A straightforward, gentle and comforting approach to explaining how Alzheimer's progresses and how children can find ways to help and continue to love the person with the disease.
Wise Women: A Celebration of Their Insights, Courage and Beauty by Joyce Tenneson (Little Brown & Co.) includes photographs and philosophies of women in their 60s, 70s and beyond, revealing their forward gazes and inner lives as it serves up a refreshing perspective on the power that age—and life thoughtfully lived—can bestow.
Your Heart: Treat It Like You Love It by Gerry Maddoux, MD, (Sea Script Co.) explains in easy-to-understand terms how the heart works, and how diet and exercise and more help keep it pumping. It also converts relevant medical terms into layman's terms to help caregivers and patients better understand the benefits and risks of different types of tests, better formulate questions to ask physicians and gain confidence as regards what they can do as relates to the condition.