Okay Dementia is not a subject any individual warmly welcomes into their life. However I have learnt two key points in my carer role. Firstly, like most things in life it is what it is. We did not invite Dementia into our home, but having arrived it is best to prepare as well as you can. Secondly, the illness is progressive and gets worse but as it does so it is possible to get some positive times. No one wants the Dementia road but accepting it is happening is one step on the road to helping the person with the condition.

The great thing about this book I found is that it is bite sized. After the leaflets from the memory clinic you are very much on your own in the early stages. So many what ifs, maybes, possibilities, etc. Go on some online forums with no real knowledge and prepare to be depressed. Yes any of this can happen but rarely in the same order, the same intensity or the same time span. Your loved ones journey will be similar to others but also to a degree unique.

I found reading and researching about Dementia depressing to a degree and still did not give me a road map. This book was very useful not as a read through in one go but a dip into source of knowledge. How to deal with situations which may or may not arise. That allows you to focus on what is in front of you, not depress you with all the possible eventualities that might happen or might not. Humour is used, common sense logic, the right balance certainly to me. I am three years into this journey and I now know far more than I did, have learnt new skills, have a much better understanding of how events will most likely develop. I just wish there were more resources like this to reach for when starting out as a carer of a loved one with Dementia.

I hope Amazon will allow me to take a liberty on such a tricky subject and mention a few other resource centres which would in my opinion help others along this road of learning. If I can help one other person I would have done some good.

Firstly get on the Talking Point forum on the Alzheimers website. Contributors have helped me several times with really useful first hand experience. It is a friendly and safe place to go. Just read the threads to start with but one day you will be glad to know there are other carers you can reach out to.

Secondly Future Learn do some excellent courses on Dementia caring. They are good learning sources, free to access for a limited period or indefinitely for a reasonable fee, you can enter forums as you progress on the course. You stop feeling clueless, isolated, etc, get some knowledge at a level pitched at the ordinary carer struggling along. A few hours a week and it does bring rewards.

Thirdly and only if you want to know more about Dementia. The University of Tasmania do excellent courses. More time demanding, intensive to a degree, but I finally had a much better grip on what Dementia is, how it progresses, research, supportive actions you can take to help a loved one by seeing the world through their diminished mental eyes. A more demanding course but rewarding in my eyes.

All the above and this book have helped me develop as a Carer for a loved one with Dementia. I got over the initial emotional upset and these tools have helped me enormously. Caring is isolating, frustrating, energy sapping, etc, but it is also rewarding and has rounded me as a person. Please take care on any carer journey you are on. Please, please Amazon I know I have pushed non Amazon products here but they are all free, just little known about. Please, please let your platform carry this information and help others on a hard and difficult road. Good luck fellow carers.

Brand	N/A
Rating	4.7 (1803 ratings)
Price	$13.99
Category	Aging Parents

Creating Moments of Joy Along the Alzheimer's Journey: A Guide for Families and Caregivers, Fifth Edition, Revised and Expanded