Episode 42 – Top Books for Caregivers

 

Hello, and welcome back to All Home Care Matters. If this is your first time visiting us here at the show. Thank you for taking time out to be with us today. We appreciate how valuable everyone’s time is and that is why we try and make each episode here at All Home Care Matters something that will hopefully matter to you.

If you have cared for a loved one before then you know first-hand that it can be difficult to find time to do the things that you use to enjoy and if you’re caring for a loved one right now, then today’s topic will hopefully help to make it a little easier for you as you care for your loved one.

We are going to be discussing some of the top books for family caregivers. This is a subjective list, and you may have your own recommendations that has helped you as you cared for your loved one. If so, we would love to hear which books were the most helpful to you.

There are many great books available to caregivers and families when they find themselves facing long-term care issues and uncertainty. The issues can be wide-ranging from small issues to bigger and more serious. Either way, when we take that very first step as a family caregiver there is little in the way of preparation for what can be expected.

There is usually little to no warning and everyone’s situation is unique to them and their circumstances. Some families may be providing care from long-distance, while others may be caring for a spouse and for others it may be the adult children now need to find ways to help mom who was recently diagnosed with dementia.

There isn’t a one size fits all for any one situation, however, there are some very good and informative, helpful, and insightful books that can make it a little easier on families and their loved ones and they face these caregiving and long-term care issues together.

We have compiled a list on some of what we consider the most helpful books for families that range from the beginning stages of caregiving to books that cover the more advanced and complicated issues.

We understand and appreciate how difficult it can be for families and for family caregivers to find time for themselves and when they do there are most likely many other commitments and obligations that they need to take care of during their break and downtime from caregiving.

But when time allows and permits you to, we hope that you’ll find that you’ll find the book that fits best for your situation and that it becomes more of a companion than a book.

First on the list is: The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer Disease, Other Dementias, and Memory Loss (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book) 

This book is considered by many to be the must-have essential resource for families who are caring for a loved one with dementia. It does not read like a traditional book, but more like a reference book where the family or caregiver can seek out the issue and devices that can help to make life safer and simpler for individuals battling dementia.

This book is full of valuable and helpful strategies, resources, tips, and information for the family and their loved one with dementia. The book is currently in its 6th Edition and can be purchased on Amazon in either paperback, hardcover, or kindle edition.

The price for hardcover is $49.38

The price for paperback is $16.19

The price for Kindle is $14.99

The next book on our list is: Eldercare For Dummies Paperback – Illustrated, May 9, 2003 (R. Zuckerman)

This book is a wonderful resource for families who are either at the very beginning stages of caring for a loved one or if they have been caring for a loved one for a while and feel lost or confused and wanting to know how to better manage their loved ones needs. Eldercare for Dummies is a “reassuring guide that helps to provide strategies for determining the needs of older loved ones, arranging their care, ensuring their safety, and enhancing their quality of life while respecting their dignity.”

Eldercare for Dummies can be purchased on Amazon in either paperback or in the Kindle edition.

The price for paperback is $12.99

The price for Kindle is $12.00

The next book that’s on our list is: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Caregivers -- 101 Stories of Love, Sacrifice, and Bonding Paperback – March 1, 2012.

This is one of those books that can help caregivers regardless of what they are facing or where they are at in their caregiving journey. There are practical resources, along with stories of love and sacrifice. There are stories from across all spectrums of caregiving, age, and settings. There are personal stories from Joan Lunden, Jill Eikenberry, Leeza Gibbons, and countless others.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Caregivers – 101 Stories of Love, Sacrifice, and Bonding can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or kindle edition.

The price for paperback is $14.95

The price for Kindle is $9.99

This next book is a must-have for every caregiver: The Caregiver's Survival Handbook (Revised): Caring for Your Aging Parents Without Losing Yourself Paperback – February 1, 2011.

The Caregiver’s Survival Handbook is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a survival tool of sorts for caregivers as they care for their loved one. As professionals we sometimes can forget that for many people having to provide care or make long-term care decisions for a loved one is something, they may have no experience in and this book can be a great asset to not only them, but also to their loved one. Another nice feature and aspect to this book that I wish more books would include is that it also covers how the caregiver can attend to their own career without losing themselves in the process.

The Caregiver’s Survival Handbook is available on Amazon. However, it is only available in paperback at this time.

The price for paperback is $15.90

This next book is not only one of the best books from a caregiver’s perspective as they care for their loved one with Alzheimer’s and illustrating every detail of what it is like to care for a loved one from the beginning of the disease all the way through to the end, but also a planned-out map showing every adjustment to each trial to every small victory that they went through caring for their loved one during their journey.

The name of this book is: Your Name is Hughes Hannibal Shanks: A Caregiver’s Guide to Alzheimer’s (Bison Book) by Lela Knox Shanks and Steven H. Zarit (April 1, 2005)

There are many things I could say when talking about this book. I want to first give a little background to how I first became aware of this book. When I was in college for a hospice and palliative course our instructor required everyone to read this book and then write an in-depth essay about our impressions of the Shanks story.

Now, admittedly, I am an avid reader of healthcare and especially dementia and Alzheimer’s books. I was at first a little skeptical of the book since I had not heard of it before and I had thought I would have if it was a significant book in the subject of dementia and Alzheimer’s. It really hadn’t mattered though if I had not heard of it before, since this was required and not optional. To this day I am thankful for having been assigned this book to read.

It is a very easy read, and it is designed that way for families to be able to read it without too much difficulty. By the time I finished reading this book it left such a profound impression on me that ever since then anytime we have a new member at one of our Caregiver Support Groups one of the very first recommendations that I make is that they get a copy of this book. For a while we had several copies and would give them out, we feel that strongly about this book.

Now, this isn’t a normal dementia or Alzheimer’s book. This book is almost a memoir mixed with a self-help guide for families who are caring for a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s. I am not going to go into all of the specifics, but Lela Shanks in my opinion could almost be considered a groundbreaking pioneer of caregiving for loved ones with Alzheimer’s. If you are caring for a loved one and especially if they are your spouse and your desire is to care for them for as long as you can in your home this book is a must.

The summary on Amazon states that “Your Name Is Hughes Hannibal Shanks is Lela Knox Shanks's personal account of caregiving for her husband, Hughes, in their home after he was stricken with Alzheimer's disease. Shanks describes her initial denial, her discovery of coping skills, her eventual acceptance of his illness, and her ultimate recognition that the key to successful caregiving lies in never losing sight of the patient's humanness.

The book outlines twenty coping and survival strategies to guide caregivers to untapped inner resources and shows caregiving's intangible rewards of increased self-respect and self-knowledge. We should note at the time we were preparing for this episode there were only 5 left in stock in paperback and only 1 left in hardcover. Which I believe is a testament to this book.

Your Name is Hughes Hannibal Shanks: A Caregiver’s Guide to Alzheimer’s (Bison Book) by Lela Knox Shanks and Steven H. Zarit is available on Amazon in both hardcover and paperback.

The price for paperback is $16.95

The price for hardcover is $26.00

The next book we recommend is: 128 Days and Counting: A 28-Year Old Caregiver's Memoir Paperback – January 1, 2017 by Honore Nolting (Author)

This is an intimate and vivid account of a young couple as they learn that Tom has been diagnosed with cancer. This couple shares a detailed account of going through chemo, an operation, and a period of difficult adjustment. The couple are strong, scared, normal and quirky, yet determined and silly. They kept a blog during Tom’s cancer and may help readers answer questions about what it is like to get cancer and be a young caregiver.

128 Days and Counting: A 28-Year Old Caregiver's Memoir Paperback is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle edition.

The price for paperback is $10.98

The price for Kindle is $8.99

There are many wonderful books for families and family caregivers as they care for their loved ones. If you have suggestions of books that you have found helpful to you and your caregiving journey, we would love to add it to our list and if you have read one of these books on this list send us a message and let us know what you thought of it.

We want to help a family caregiver and give them a copy of each of these books on our list. Send us an email and tell us how long you have been caring for your loved one and what you would like other caregivers to know that could help them as they care for their loved one.

Send your story to contact@allhomecarematters.com and we will share your story on an upcoming episode, again that email is contact@allhomecarematters.com and include Caregiving Journey in the email’s subject line.

We want to thank you for joining us here at All Home Care Matters, All Home Care Matters is here for you and to help families as they navigate long-term care issues.

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Join us next time on All Home Care Matters where we will be discussing the difficult issue of When You and Your Siblings Cannot Agree.

 

Sources:

 

https://www.amazon.com/36-Hour-Day-sixth-Alzheimer-Dementias/dp/1421422239/ref=sr_1_3?crid=22WPKEREBW0R2&dchild=1&keywords=36+hour+day&qid=1609534476&s=books&sprefix=36+%2Cstripbooks%2C197&sr=1-3

 

https://www.amazon.com/Eldercare-Dummies-Rachelle-Zukerman/dp/0764524690/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Eldercare+For+Dummies&qid=1609534144&sr=8-1

 

https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Soup-Soul-Caregivers-Sacrifice/dp/1935096834

 

https://www.amazon.com/Caregivers-Survival-Handbook-Revised-Yourself/dp/0399536426/

 

https://www.amazon.com/Your-Name-Hughes-Hannibal-Shanks/dp/0803293283/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Your+Name+Is+Hughes+Hannibal+Shanks%3A+A+Caregiver%27s+Guide+to+Alzheimer%27s&qid=1609555402&s=books&sr=1-1

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C6YPWJP/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0