The Best Friend's Approach to Alzheimer's Care
– By Virginia Bell & David Troxel. Health Professions Press, Inc., 1997, 2003 (250 Pages).

 

The main focus of The Best Friend's Approach to Alzheimer's Care is the training of caregivers. The book is targeted at both professional as well as unpaid family caregivers.

The authors of this book have identified a sensible approach to caregiving of persons with Alzheimer’s disease, and throughout the book, they substitute more neutral words for words that may seem offensive.

Such terms as “nursing facilities” or “assisted living homes” are described instead as “long-term care facilities” or “facilities”; “adult day care centers” are described as “adult day services”, “adult day centers”, or “centers”.

For people with Alzheimer’s disease or related disorders, the author uses “patient” when the individual is being seen by a medical professional, and for non-medical caregivers, the word “persons” is used. The authors’ philosophy is that these “persons” should be treated as “Best Friends”.

The chapters of this book are organized as follows:

  • Chapter 1: describes the experience of Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Chapter 2: offers a short primer on Alzheimer’s disease called “The Basics”
  • Chapter 3: tells the reader how to make an assessment of the individual’s strengths and abilities.
  • Chapter 4: introduces the Alzheimer’s disease Bill of Rights.
  • Chapter 5: reveals how the art of good friendship teaches us much about good Alzheimer’s care.
  • Chapter 6: reviews the importance of the affected individual’s life story, which the authors give a checklist on page 68 called “Recipe for the Life Story”.
  • Chapter 7: covers the “knack” of care giving and the authors define “knack” as a clever trick or stratagem of the ability and skill to do something easily.
  • Chapter 8: describes the “knack” of communicating.
  • Chapter 9: examines the “knack” of activities giving a suggested list called “The Best Friends Approach to Activities”.
  • Chapter 10, 11 and 12: presents examples of the Best Friends model in action: home care, adult day centers and long-term care facilities.
  • Chapter 13 and 14: challenges caregivers to be their own Best Friends and
  • Appendix A gives resource listings and Appendix B offers suggested readings.

This book is well-written, easy to read and is aimed at inexperienced caregivers, both paid and unpaid who need a guiding hand in learning about Alzheimer’s care.

Review provided by Donna Bailey – Volunteer, Alzheimer Society of B.C.