The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer's Care, Revised

I read this book as part of training to lead activities in an adult day center. It is thorough, concise and very reader friendly. This is an excellent resource for training programs and for anyone wanting to develop skills in working with persons with Alzheimer's Disease or dementia. This book is a must have.

This past semester, my seminary (Christian Theological Seminary) was honoured to host Virginia and Wayne Bell as they led a conference on Spirituality and Aging. As we approach a time in which the issues of aging will take increasing prominence, as the baby-boomers reach a collectively-older age than any generation in history has reached, the issues surrounding health care for the elderly are of primary importance, and part of that health is mental (which includes spiritual) health. The Bells have spent much time investigating and helping in the area of Alzheimer's, a disease that affects mind, body and spirit. Virginia Bell, together with a colleague, David Troxel, collaborated on two books (one of which is the the subject of this review) presenting an innovative way for care of those with Alzheimer's: `The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer's Care'. Virginia Bell, MSW, is currently Program Consultant with the Lexington/Bluegrass Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. She is a graduate of Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky, and has lectured widely at national and international conference. Her co-author, David Troxel, works with the Santa Barbara chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. `"The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer's Care" reflects a growing optimism in the field of Alzheimer's care that much can be done to improve the lives of people with the disease and to transform caregiving from a terrible burden to care that is manageable. This book represents the development of the first comprehensive model of care, which is easy to understand and learn.' At the start of the book, Bell and Troxel describe the various experiences of those with Alzheimer's. By looking at the depression, confusion, and detachment that those with Alzheimer's experience, the caregiver gains a greater understanding and compassion for those suffering. Perhaps the most important key insight comes from a nurse and teacher, Rebecca, who began to experience symptoms of Alzheimer's at age 59. `I dislike social workers, nurses and friends who do not treat me as a real person.' Despite her slowly declining cognitive abilities, she is still able to sense that people are regarding her differently, as a patient, as an object, as a 'third person' rather than a real person. Persons with Alzheimer's experience loss, sadness, confusion, isolation and loneliness, fear, frustration, anxiety, paranoia, anger, and embarrassment. The Best Friends model takes all of these into account as a normal part of everyone's life. The second chapter gives a basic overview of Alzheimer's, giving symptoms, diagnosis, services, caregiving issues, and research news. The Best Friends model requires no specialised medical or scientific knowledge -- an appendix is included in the book for those who wish to pursue those topics in more detail. The following chapters develop the aspects of care along the Best Friends model. This requires first assessing the strengths and abilities of the

Seeing the Helping Hands Adult Day Care program, which is the fruit of the philosophy of this work, was a life changing event for me. The caring and love shown by the staff of Helping Hands are living testiment to the dedication of workers to improve the quality of life for clients affected by the devastation of Alzheimer's Disease and other dementias. If all facilities, both assisted living and nursing homes, truly invested in this approach, life would indeed be different for the persons affected by this disease and their caregivers. A definite must for those struggling with the problems of caregiving those with Alzheimer's disease.

Simple yet profound new way of caring about people with Alzheimer's. Easy to read with practical use.

This book is a must for anyone, including family, caregiver, or friend who knows someone with Alzheimers. The "best friends" approach is a caring, sensitive and thoughful way to work with and care for those with this disease. The authors provide practical examples of dealing with behavior problems, planning activities and most importantly how to be a "friend" to the person with Alzheimers. The authors have done a superb job of providing a creative yet common sense approach to caring for those with this disease.