Product Description
From the internationally acclaimed author of the groundbreaking and award-winning book Dementia Beyond Drugs comes another eye-opening exploration of how to improve the lives of people with dementia and those who care for them. In this revised edition—including updated facts, studies, and terminology—Dr. G. Allen Power demonstrates how to achieve sustainable success in dementia care by changing the caregiving lens to focus on well-being and the ways in which it can be enhanced in people living with dementia.
Revealing how drug-based interventions as well as completely holistic approaches consistently fall short of addressing and meeting the needs of people with dementia, this book offers a proactive approach—one that challenges widely accepted dementia care practices and provides a compelling new framework for developing more effective dementia services.
Through in-depth examinations of seven domains of well-being, readers will discover how current care practices erode them, and the transformative approaches that can restore them, plus
- how to apply a well-being approach to the everyday care of people living with dementia
- a highly adaptable framework that can be adopted in any living environment
- valuable insight on overcoming physical and operational barriers to well-being
- a wealth of person-centered, strengths-based approaches to care
Filled with true stories that demonstrate the power of a well-being approach to greatly improve the lives of people with dementia as well as those who care for them, this book presents methods that promise a new and hopeful vision for achieving the best possible outcomes for every person living with cognitive changes. Readers will be challenged, motivated, and profoundly inspired.
Also by G. Allen Power, M.D.
G. Allen Power, M.D., is a board-certified internist and geriatrician and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester, New York. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians—American Society of Internal Medicine, and an international educator on transformational models of care for older adults, particularly those living with changing cognitive abilities.
Administrator –
“An outstanding feature of this book is giving opportunity to listen to the voices of people with dementia, whilst encouraging the reader to consider the proposed framework for well-being in terms of an approach to improving lives, rather than another set of interpretations.”
—Reena Lasrado, The University of Manchester, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, Manchester, UK
Dementia (2015, Vol. 14(3) 384–386)
Administrator –
“Al Power has done it again. His newest book challenges us to partner with the person with dementia to create the best possible life. Dementia Beyond Disease is a thought provoking and practical guide that will help all of us develop winning programs that are life-affirming for the person with dementia and for care partners. Highly recommended!”
—David Troxel, MPH, Co-author, The Best Friends Approach to Dementia Care
Administrator –
“Al Power continues his provocative and pioneering work in dementia by taking us not only further beyond drugs, but beyond disease itself to well-being. We are led to a place where people with dementia are returned to being part of humanity (as if doctors had the right to exclude them and try to ‘normalize’ them through drugs) and where we even wonder whether we are all a bit demented. After all, so-called dementia-specific arts programs and dementia-friendly communities are likely to do good for all of us. And how are we as a species doing with managing even basic ADLs like hydration, food and waste, let alone our instrumental ones.”
—Peter Whitehouse, Professor of Neurology, Case Western Reserve Univ.
Administrator –
“Dr. Power’s Dementia Beyond Disease is pushing our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia into an entirely new realm, one focused on the well-being of the person rather than the changes they may be experiencing. Traditionally, and even in many current approaches, the field’s attention is centered around the ‘tragedy’ of dementia, largely promoting a view of suffering and devastation. This tragedy discourse reinforces a negative stigma that dehumanizes the people that are at the heart of the experience and creates a negative response by professionals and community members alike. In his work, Dr. Power shows he is one of a mere handful of thinkers that are creating a new enlightened age of Alzheimer’s; one that sets personhood, humanity and well-being above the perpetuation of a medicalized disease model. This work helps set the stage for a more humane standard of care that supports living well in our communities for all people.”
—Peter Reed,, PhD, MPH, Director, Sanford Center for Aging
Administrator –
“Be prepared to be challenged and inspired! Dr. Power’s book is transformational in regarding dementia as a shift in the way the person with dementia experiences the world, and then focusing on how to enhance the well-being of those in your care. Once you have read this book, you will indeed ‘change [your] minds about those whose minds have changed,’ and be able to ‘see with new eyes, and listen with new ears.’ Instead of a quick-fix list, you will find your perception altered in such a way that it will underpin an authentic person-directed care-partnership with people with dementia. From this altered perspective, Dr. Power offers many practical steps that you can take towards enhancing well-being and ‘creating a life worth living.’ This book should be essential reading for all those entrusted with the care of people with dementia, and bring about much-needed cultural change in residential care settings.”
—Christine Bryden, Author and Dementia Advocate, http://www.christinebryden.com
Administrator –
“Dementia Beyond Disease: Enhancing Well-Being is exceptionally well written and highly recommended, especially for the non-specialist general reader with a responsibility for the care and comfort of a patient or a loved one with dementia. Highly recommended for both community and academic library Health & Medicine instructional reference collections.”
—The Midwest Book Review
Hosting –
This book builds upon the foundation of Power’s award-winning book, Dementia Beyond Drugs, to reframe the care and support of people living with dementia. Power presents a strengths-based approach that focuses on enhancing seven domains of well-being for individuals in all living environments.