Books

1. The Caregiver's Support Kit is available to caregivers at no charge from the National Caregivers Foundation by calling 1-800-930-1357. This book focuses on Alzheimer's but has good information for any caregiver. It comes with several extra goodies such as an audiotape of music and a medication minder pill box.

2. How to Care for Aging Parents (A Complete Guide) by Virginia Morris and Robert Butler, Workman Publishing, New York, c. 1996, is a comprehensive resource guide with special tips in boxes, information on topics from "getting" set" (preparing for caregiving) to "in the end." This book even explains what to expect when you are in the room with someone who is dying, and the section on grieving is good.

3. The Comfort of Home: An Illustrated Step-by-Step Guide for Caregivers by Maria M. Meyer with Paula Derr, RN, Care Trust Publications, Portland, Oregon, c.1998, won 1999 Benjamin Franklin award in health category - useful and practical, with big print and drawings of caregiving situations and assistive devices (how to arrange furniture to accommodate a wheelchair, how to transfer from bed to wheelchair with and without a transfer belt). Besides giving hands-on care instructions, this book has information such as tax strategies for caregivers.

4. When Aging Parents Can't Live Alone by Allen F. Rubenson, M.S.W., published by Lowell House, Lincolnwood, Illinois, c. 2000 - goes from independent living to hospice, has nice stories about older people and caregivers, explains terms like "activities of daily living (ADL's)" used in determining eligibility for many programs, has helpful questions to ask to determine whether the older person should move in with adult child, and includes big resource list at end.

5. Caring for Yourself While Caring for Your Aging Parents: How to Help, How to Survive by Claire Berman, published by Henry Holt and Company, Inc., c.1996, 2001 - this book addresses emotional needs and stresses of caregivers, has a good explanation of adult/child and sibling feelings, nice long distance caregiver section, rewards of caregiving as well as reasons some people should not become hands-on caregivers.

6. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Caring for Aging Parents by Linda Colvin Rhodes, Ed.D., published by Alpha Books, a Pearson Education Company, Indianapolis, IN, c. 2001, is one of those complete idiot's guides to how to learn anything. If you can get past the title, this book has simple, up-to-date information and wonderful tips in little boxes called, "senior alert," "geri-fact," "sage source," and "silver lining." There is a good explanation of how to hold a family meeting to discuss sharing the caregiving responsibilities.

7. The Fearless Caregiver: How to Get the Best Care for Your Loved One and Still Have a Life of Your Own by Gary Barg, Editor, c. 2001, published by Capital Books Inc., Herndon, Virginia. This book has information from experts, is readable, has celebrity caregiver interviews, poetry, etc. It's for all caregivers, not just for children of aging parents. It is a collection of writing by various writers, many of them caregivers, so it is not a comprehensive information book. It is enjoyable and comforting. This book, edited by the editor Today's Caregiver Magazine, is available from booksellers or visit Today's Caregiver Magazine web site, www.caregiver.com.

8. The Complete Guide to Alzheimer's Proofing Your Home by Mark L. Warner, c. 2,000 by Ageless Design www.agelessdesign.com, Purdue University Press, West Lafayette, Indiana. This book is packed with information, diagrams, and black and white photographs. Each chapter lists resources in the wide margins, and there is a huge listing in the back with addresses, toll-free and regular numbers, and the types of products sold. All types of problems - behavioral, activities of daily living, thinking-related issues, incontinence, mobility, and more are explained and helpful ideas are given. The book shows unusual products like a platform lift where there isn't room for a ramp and simple ideas such as an brightly colored electrical tape path on the floor from bedroom to bathroom. Some of the ideas and products look useful for stroke and other conditions besides Alzheimer's.

9. Helping Yourself Help Others by Rosalynn Carter with Susan K. Golant, c.1994 by Times Books, a division of Random House, New York. This book is older than some, written after surveying the needs of caregivers in the area near the Rosalynn Carter Institute of Georgia Southwestern College. This was one of the first books to talk about the "crisis in caregiving in America," but it is written in a warm and personal style beginning with stories about Former First Lady Carter's mother, who was a life-long caregiver. The book includes other interesting stories, and recommendations for what America needs to do to improve the lives of caregivers still hold true today.

10. Living With Stroke: A Guide for Families by Richard C. Senellick, M.D., Peter W. Rossi, M.D., and Karla Dougherty, Health South Press, Birmingham, Alabama, c. 1999. This book is used by Health South in working with stroke survivors and their families. It explains what happens with strokes in different parts of the brain, rehabilitation of many types, emotional issues faced by stroke survivors and their families, issues such as sex after a stroke, a stroke stress analysis, and help in setting goals.

11. Managing Stroke A Guide to Living Well After Stroke edited by Paul R. Rao, Ph.D., Mark N. Ozer, M.D., and John E. Toerge, D.O., National Rehabilitation Hospital Press, Washington, D.C., c. 2000. This book covers stroke prevention, physical recovery, quality of life issues such as sex and phobias, and technology. It has a nice section called "Consumers speak out."

12. Making the Moment Count: Leisure Activities for Caregiving Relationships by Joanne Ardolf Decker, John Hopkins University Press, c.1997. This book offers ideas for how to use short increments of time for leisure activities to lighten the load of caregiving.

13. Failure-free Activities for the Alzheimer's Patient by Carmel Sheridan, Dell Books, c. 1995. This book offers simple activities which are enjoyable for both caregiver and care recipient.

14. Caregiving A Step-By-Step Resource for Caring for the Person with Cancer at Home by Peters S. Housts, Ph.D., and Julia A. Bucher, RN, Ph.D., c. 2000 by the American Cancer Society. This covers topics such as understanding caregiving, getting information from medical staff, emotional issues, making a plan, and when to get professional help. The pain management section is very helpful.

15. Caregiving: The Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss, and Renewal by Beth Witrogen Mcloud, New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1999, New York. This book talks about the caregiver's spiritual and emotional journey, the compassionate heart and the urge to care, as well as more practical matters. It has interesting stories and advice for spousal caregivers and for children of aging parents. It is a comforting book, and it helps a caregiver see the meaning and value of providing care to another human being. Chapter 8 and 9 address how to get through depression and the low points without committing suicide. Helpful action steps are provided.

16. Caregivers Count Too! A Toolkit to Help Practitioners Assess the Needs of Family Caregivers by Family Caregiver Alliance, c. June, 2006. Copies are available at www.caregiver.org.

17. The Circle by Sally Smith. A personal account of the emotional and human side of dealing with dementia. The authour has donated the proceeds of sale as a gift to the Medical University of South Carolina to raise awareness and support for research into Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, dementia, vision and hearing loss and other age-related problems. See a review at http://www.musc.edu/pr/circle.htm. To obtain a copy of "The Circle" directly, or for other information, contact the Center on Aging at www.musc.edu/aging or by calling 843-792-0712.

18. Staying Afloat in a Sea of Forgetfulness by Gary Joseph LeBlanc c. 2010. A book on Alzheimer's and dementia caregiving, based on the author's experience of being the primary caregiver for his father for nearly 10 years. He first addressed the need for information on "common sense caregiving" in a weekly column in the Tampa Tribune publication, Hernando Today.  This book is "caregiver friendly" and includes vignettes on a variety of topics including the "triumphs and hardships" of "dealing with the disease of Alzheimer's and the world of memory-impairment."