Creating Moments of Joy - Along the Alzheimer's Journey

by Jolene Brackey

A Guide for Families and Caregivers.

Unknown Binding

Published November 30, 2016

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was hard for me to read, yet I’m so glad I did. I learned a lot of information that I will be using to loving be a caregiver.

[Lorenzo Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book and am so grateful for the author and other contributors for sharing their knowledge, stories, observations, and opinions. This was not a scientific or data-driven read, which I appreciated tremendously because it made the book approachable. I found this book to be witty, leisurely, but also serious and informative. It’s effectively a collection of tips with anecdotes to emphasize the chapter’s core lesson(s).

As morbid as this may sound, I picked this book up because I am fascinated by degenerative mental diseases and have witnessed my family take poor care of my grandmother with dementia. We made about every mistake imaginable. She is resting peacefully now.

After reading this book, I feel like I have a (slightly) better pulse on what somebody with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or dementia actually needs and how we should treat them. If you are at all interested in learning more about this disease and how to provide loving and effective care, I recommend you do not delay to read this book. It’s a joy and made me cry several times.

At the end of the day, no amount of books, education, scientific articles, or data will ever teach you how to treat people with degenerative mental diseases. The person suffering from the disease is your teacher; learn from them.

So grateful for this book.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a sister with dementia, still in the early stages. Several books have been recommended to me and honestly, I found the first few I looked at almost the opposite of helpful. They made me feel overwhelmed and depressed. This book was the opposite of that.

Jolene Brackey is a dementia caregiving expert, speaker, and author with many years of experience. Her approach is to accept that nothing we can do will stop the progression of the disease or make our loved one get better, in terms of the progress of the disease. But she reinforces again and again that while the person's mind is decaying, they are still fully a person with emotions. And those emotions drive their behaviors.

Her key point, that she keeps coming back to, is that while your loved one won't remember the specifics of your visit -- possibly even that you did visit -- a few hours after, they will carry the emotion of the visit for the rest of the day at least. So if you ask them questions they can't answer or correct them on wrong memories or shame them over failures, they will leave the visit feeling frustrated, scared, and/or worthless. But if you are able to connect them with moments of joy, they will feel the warmth of that joy for the rest of the day. Then she spends the rest of the book illustrating how to help create those joyful moments.

There were parts of the book that were somewhat difficult for me to read because they gave unwanted insights into the typical progression of the disease, and I didn't necessarily want to see where my sister is likely to go. But the many positive insights about how to create moments of joy, how to watch for signs of the disease's progression, how to select a facility when the time comes, and more made this a very worthwhile read. Overall, it had the desired affect of making me feel better prepared for this journey.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended by a friend whose mom had struggled with dementia. My dad has late-onset dementia, specifically Alzheimer's. Creating Moments of Joy is a must-read for every caretaker and family member of those suffering from this disease. It is full of ways to help loved ones interact with the affected individuals. Its words are practical, wise, and compassionate. I can't rave enough about how excellent this book is.

[Meredith Kasbohm · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so thankful for the insights offered here

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, and necessary.

[Andie Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

great reference book with lots of advice and tips for caregivers

[Blanche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a number of years ago and just came across some book excerpts I had saved. Some very good advice and a lot of food for thought. Numerous great quotes