The Common Sense Guide to Dementia for Clinicians and Caregivers provides an easy-to-read, practical, and thoughtful approach to dementia care. Written by two specialists who have cared for thousands of patients with dementia and their families, this ground-breaking title unifies the perspectives of neurology and psychiatry to meet a variety of caregiver needs. It spotlights many real-world concerns not typically covered in standard textbooks, while simultaneously presenting a more detailed medical perspective than typical caregiver manuals. This handy title offers expert guidance for the clinical management of dementia and compassionate support of patients and families. Designed to enhance the physician-caregiver interaction and liberally illustrated with case examples, The Common Sense Guide espouses general principles of dementia care that apply across the stages and spectrum of this illness, including non-Alzheimer's types of dementia, in addition to Alzheimer's disease. Clinicians, family members, and other caregivers will find this volume useful from the moment that symptoms of dementia emerge. The authors place an emphasis on caring for the caregiver as well as the patient. Essential topics include how to find the right clinician, make the most of a doctor's visit, and avert a crisis - or manage one that can't be avoided. Sometimes difficult considerations, such as driving, financial management, legal matters, long-term placement, and end-of-life care, are faced head-on. Tried, true, and time-saving tips are explained in terms of what works - and what doesn't - with regard to clinical evaluation, medications, behavioral measures, and alternate therapies. Medical, nursing, and allied health care professionals will undoubtedly turn to this unique overview as a vital resource and mainstay of clinical dementia care, as well as a valuable recommendation for family caregivers.

Improving care for the patients who are in the last phase of their lives has been a field that most health care providers have struggled with during last few years. Having worked with hundreds of providers throughout the country, these experienced authors know what providers need when it comes to implementing a quality improvement project. This guide will provide user-friendly, step-by-step instructions on how to implement a quality improvement project in the full range of care settings. The instructions will be brought to life with specific examples from actual successful projects and key information on the best practices in the industry. Readers will also be pointed to resources available online and elsewhere, with information on how to access them. The guide will be written in an informal, maximally helpful style, with checklists, tables, and boxed information. Answering 80% of the questions in less than half the space, The Common Sense Guide is the perfect portable companion to Dr. Lynn's desk reference, Improving Care for the End of Life. The book will be of great interest to all health care professionals involved in the care of those with serious chronic illness -- doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, clinic administrators, quality improvement experts, and so forth.

Dementia is one of the greatest challenges facing seniors and their caregivers around the globe. Developed by experts in both research and practice, this guide for mental health clinicians explores the experience of caregiving in dementia, discussing the latest research developments and sharing clinical pearls of wisdom that can easily be translated to daily practice. The contributors explore the history of caregiving and then examine the current demographics of caregivers for persons with dementia. They discuss who provides care, the settings in which it is delivered, and the rewards and burdens of caregiving. They place special emphasis on understanding the psychological needs of both the person with dementia and the caregiver, as well as interpersonal bonds, spiritual dimensions, and reactions to grief and loss. Using a multidisciplinary approach to treatment for caregivers, this book addresses the role of pharmacotherapy, individual and family interventions, and social supports. Finally, the authors reflect on societal issues such as health care policies, ethnic elders, and ethics. This volume offers health professionals insights into the daily lives of caregivers, along with tools to provide their patients with the support they need.

This expanded, updated third edition summarizes the pragmatic diagnostic accuracy studies of neurological signs and cognitive and non-cognitive screening instruments undertaken in the author’s clinic in the context of day-to-day practice involving patients with cognitive disorders including dementia. A new chapter devoted to comparing and combining instruments is included, and illustrative case studies have been included where relevant. Dementia in Clinical Practice: A Neurological Perspective, Third Edition is a practical resource for medical professionals involved in the assessment and management of patients with dementia and cognitive disorders. It may be of particular interest to neurologists, psychiatrists, geriatricians, primary care practitioners and those working with patients with cognitive impairment in the fields of neuropsychology, psychology, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and nursing.

Becoming a caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or another neurocognitive disorder can be an unexpected, undesirable, underappreciated—and yet noble role. It is heartbreaking to watch someone lose the very cognitive capacities that once helped to define them as a person. But because of the nature of these disorders, the only way to become an effective caregiver and cope with the role’s many daily challenges is to become well-informed about the disease. With the right information, resources and tips on caregiving and working with professionals, you can become your own expert at both caring for your charge and taking care of yourself. In these pages, Marc Agronin guides readers through a better understanding of the changes their loved one may be going through, and helps them tap into the various resources available to them as they embark on an uncertain caregiving journey. Insisting that a caregiver also maintain his or her own health and well being, Agronin guides caregivers in their efforts to provide care, but to also look to themselves as recipients of care from themselves and others. Shedding light on the debilitating disorders themselves as well as their everyday realities, this book is a much-needed resource for anyone caring for another person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and other neurocognitive disorders.

This book provides practical, up-to-the-minute information and tools for clinicians working with older adults. A roster of expert authors offers the most practical clinical and research insights across the most relevant, frequently encountered diagnostic and treatment problems. Each chapter is organized in a logical, easy-to-follow structure tha