Here in Canada, January is Alzheimer’s Awareness month. To commemorate this event, I am thrilled to announce the release of my newest book, Alzheimer’s, Dementia, & Memory Loss: A Helpful Guide for Caregivers (2022). This book has been in the making for a few years now and I am pleased with its completion. It is available for purchase on Amazon in paperback and ebook (Kindle) format.
Alzheimer’s, Dementia, & Memory Loss is a fully revised and expanded version of my book, Caring for a Husband with Dementia. Caring for a Husband with Dementia, written in 2015, has been my number one seller and this new book is sure to enlighten everyone. It is written in gender-neutral language and will be relevant for all care partners and those who provide assistance and help to those struggling with cognitive decline and neurocognitive disorders.
My idea for this book came to me not long after I published, Caring for a Husband with Dementia. I had people asking me, “Where is the book for us husbands?” and “Where is my book? I am a child of a parent with dementia.” This got me thinking. So I started by having men who were caregivers look over the book. I had one man who was unable to complete his mission. So I had to continue to search for the right person(s) to help me.
Dubbed the “first aid kit” and “quintessential survival guide” for caregivers.
Eventually, I developed a friendship (through an online caregiver support group) with a man named Brent Hoag, whose wife Sally had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease a few years prior. He was very keen on helping me and agreed to review the book from a male caregiver’s perspective. He is a prolific writer in support groups and online, so I knew he would be a great choice. His contributions to this book project were so valuable that I included his name on the front cover!
Brent’s contributions to Alzheimer’s, Dementia, & Memory Loss include a chapter on humour and his words of wisdom, experience, and advice are sprinkled throughout the book. You can sense the love for his wife in his words and the challenges he endured and how he handled them with loving care.
In this expanded volume I include special chapters on delirium, drinking, driving, and doggy dementia. In the seven years since I wrote my first book on dementia, caregivers have come to me with some very challenging situations that are unfortunately more common than we realize. The dementia-affected brain can pose so many difficult situations for caregivers, so this book is sure to shed some light on how to cope and manage.
Topics include:
- Getting a Diagnosis
- Understanding Dementia
- Understanding Caregiving
- Asking for Help
- Practical and Emotional Support
- Caregiver Burnout and Self Care
- Humour as a Coping Strategy
- Improving Self-Esteem
- Long-Term Care Placement
- Loss, Grief, and Bereavement
- Communication (includes Therapeutic Reasoning®)
- Coping with Difficult Behaviour (the biggest chapter with tons of tips!)
- Abuse and Neglect
- Legal and Financial Preparedness
- Delirium and the Older Adult
- Problem Drinking and Dementia
- Unsafe Driving
- Doggy Dementia
- and more!
These 210 pages are full of support, tips, and advice that everyone can learn from whether you are a informal care provider or a formal caregiver. Problems with one’s memory and recalling recent events is often one of the first signs of dementia. I have included the term “memory loss” in the title in case a failing memory is the main problem one is having.
If you would like to purchase a copy, I always have some available on hand, or you can purchase the book online from Amazon. Contact me for any other inquiries, or click on these links to go to Amazon (USA – change country if needed):
Angela G. Gentile, MSW, RSW
Angela G. Gentile is a clinical social worker who has worked with thousands of clients and their families. She has a specialization in aging and has been working with older adults for more than 25 years. Angela is married, has two adult children, and lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
For more information: AngelaGGentile.com
Angela G. Gentile, MSW, RSW 