Library of Clean Reads: Alzheimer's

Showing posts with label Alzheimer's. Show all posts

Monday, November 11, 2013

When Someone You Love has Alzheimer's... (Interview and Giveaway)

Two days ago I posted my review of Why Did Grandma Put Her Underwear in the Refrigerator? by Max Wallack and Carolyn Given. (Read my review) This is an excellent book to help children learn about Alzheimer's, a disease that is striking many today. I was so impressed by Max, one of the authors because he is only 17 and has already accomplished so much. I think this book is so important that I am giving away a copy to one of my readers. But before I tell you about the giveaway, please help me welcome Max to Library of Clean Reads!

LCR: Hi Max! What made you want to write a children’s book about Alzheimer’s?

MW: I grew up being a caregiver to my great grandmother who had Alzheimer’s disease. I felt I had a lot to share with other child caregivers. I wanted to provide them with an explanation of the disease that would be non-scary but would provide them with some useful coping mechanisms so they could still continue to have meaningful relationships with those suffering from this disease.

LCR: That's wonderful, Max. If there was one message you want to give caregivers, what would it be?

MW: I would want them to know that the person is the same person they have always been. They have not changed into someone else or into a stranger. They are still capable of more than many people think. It is important for caregivers to find modes of communication that are still working.

LCR: I agree. You were young when your grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Do you think children and teens can play a role in helping families cope with this illness?

MW: Absolutely! I was definitely a hands-on caregiver. I was a member of our family team of caregivers. Great Grams was not a quiet, low-stress individual. Her care was a challenge, but we all worked together to give her the best possible quality of life. Statistics show that more and more young people are becoming caregivers to family member with dementia. “1.4 million children ages 8 to 18 provide care for an adult relative; 72% are caring for a parent or grandparent; and 64% live in the same household as their care recipient. Fortunately, most are not the sole caregiver.” (National Alliance for Caregiving and the United Hospital Fund, Young Caregivers in the U.S., 2005)

LCR: Those are some sobering statistics. I’ve seen books for children to help them understand Alzheimer’s but few ones for teenagers. Being a teenager yourself and being involved in research for Alzheimer’s, you are an inspiration. Do you see yourself writing another book, but this time for teens?

MW: Not any time in the near future. In the past few months, I’ve actually been asked to coauthor several books, but I just don’t have the time right now. As a 17 year old college junior and an Alzheimer’s researcher, as well as managing PuzzlesToRemember, I keep pretty busy. I am very enthused about some of the research I am doing right now, which seems to be getting some very encouraging results. We are applying to begin clinical trials and I think my time is best spent on this work. I will also soon be beginning the process of applying to medical schools for 2015.

LCR: That is amazing! No wonder you have been referred to as a whiz kid. You started a non-profit organization when you were just 13. Why?

MW: I actually started PuzzlesToRemember when I was 12. During the last few months of Great Grams’s life she was in and out of several hospitals and nursing facilities, mostly because of urinary tract infections that often accompany incontinence. Whenever, I visited her, I noticed that patients who were working on jigsaw puzzles seemed calmer and “more there”. After Great Grams’s death, I researched this and discovered that remaining cognitively active, especially with creative endeavors, can help postpone the point at which an Alzheimer’s patient can remain cognitively functional in society.

I began collecting puzzles and distributing them to facilities caring for Alzheimer’s patients. Soon, I realized that the type of puzzles Alzheimer’s patients needed, those with low piece count, large piece size, bright colors, and memory-provoking non childish images, were hard to find. I wrote to Springbok puzzles and asked them to start producing puzzles for this audience. Their response was, “We can and we will get this done.” Since then, we have worked together to produce the Springbok PuzzlesToRemember. I accept no royalties for my efforts. Instead, each year Springbok gives me an allotment of puzzles that I can direct to be sent to any facility in the US at no cost to myself or to the facility. By now, PuzzlesToRemember has distributed over 26,000 puzzles around the world.

LCR: That is such a generous act. I thank you immensely for the puzzles you sent our non-profit community centre. Okay, let’s get to know another side to you. If you could travel back in time, where would you go?

MW: I’d rather go forward in time and see what advancements have been made in various fields.

LCR: Favorite ice-cream?

MW: Strawberry

LCR: Favorite book

MW: 1 + 1 = 3 by Danny Siegel

LCR: Favorite movie?

MW: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

LCR: Any hobbies?

MW: Pool, ping pong, swimming, computer games, biking

LCR: Thanks so much, Max! It's a pleasure for me to help you promote your book and your work, knowing you will be an inspiration for young ones. My son was impressed with you too and asked me if he could write a book too.

~~~~~~~~~

If you want to buy a copy of this wonderful book, visit Amazon. Fifty percent of this book's proceeds supports Alzheimer's research and the care of Alzheimer's patients!

About Max Wallack:

Max has an impressive resumé. He began to take university courses while still in high school and began lab work when he was just 15! He has been interviewed on CNN, Metro West Daily News, The White House Blog, Fifty Plus Advocate, and AARP The Magazine Blog. You can learn more about him on his website: www.PuzzlesToRemember.org. He is also an editor for the AlzheimersReadingRoom.com, and you can read his most recent article here.

And now for the giveaway!

I am giving away one copy of Why Did Grandma Put Her Underwear in the Refrigerator? to one of my readers. Entering is easy.

Mandatory:

Leave a comment about why you want to win this book. Include an email address. If you do not include an email address your entry will not be valid.

Extra entries:

MUST be a separate comment or it will not count.
1) If you are a follower, new or current, leave a comment telling me so.
2) Leave a comment on the review post for this book for another chance to win.

*Buttons for following found on top left-hand corner of blog.
*Giveaway ends November 25, 2013.

*Open to US and Canada.

*Please read my Giveaway Policy before entering my giveaways.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Why Did Grandma Put Her Underwear in the Refrigerator? by Max Wallack and Carolyn Given

Why Did Grandma Put Her Underwear in the Refrigerator? An Explanation of Alzheimer's for Children by Max Wallack and Carolyn Given
Puzzles to Remember Inc
ISBN: 978-1489501677
Published June 29, 2013
Softcover, 40 pages

If it's not the title that strikes you then it will be the fact that this book is written especially for children to help them understand Alzheimer's disease because the reality is that more and more young children and teens today are becoming caregivers.

I first discovered this book while doing research for literature related to Alzheimer's and dementia. I work with seniors who have this disease. I contacted Max Wallack who graciously consented to send a copy for me to review and to donate to our Day Programs library at work. It is an excellent book that I will highly recommend to all families who have children that deal with a relative who has Alzheimer's.

Julie is a seven year-old girl who lives with her parents and grandmother. Julie loves her grandmother and they do many activities together, like shopping and playing games. But then her grandma starts forgetting things which makes her upset, and she starts to behave oddly. Julie's parents take the time to explain to Julie that her grandma has Alzheimer's and what this means. The story continues with Julie's experiences with her grandma and how she feels about some of the things that happen with her grandma. This is what makes the book brilliant. Through Julies's eyes we get to understand about an illness that is emotionally difficult, the effects it has on a child, and how to best deal with it.

I read this book with my 9 year-old son who I could see paid rapt attention to the story. He told me it helped him understand more about Alzheimer's although he said he knew some of the things because of the time he volunteered in my Day Programs and from what I tell him about my work. We both felt that this book deals very well with situations that are important for children. It is a reassuring book that will help a child better understand the conflicting emotions, such as frustration, fear and anger that a child can experience when a member of the family has Alzheimer's. This is a beautiful book that accomplishes the explaining of a complex disease in a simple (but not simplistic) manner. It's a book from which all can benefit, adults included.

I highly recommend this book to all parents to help foster a generation of youths who are compassionate and educated about a disease that is striking more and more seniors and consequently will touch the lives of more and more children.

Please note that fifty percent of this book's proceeds supports Alzheimer's research and the care of Alzheimer's patients. I was so impressed by Max Wallack who is only 17 and has already done so much to help individuals with Alzheimer's.

Please stop by on Monday to read my interview with him and for a chance to win a copy of this insightful book!

Note: This book is rated C = clean read.
To read more reviews, please visit: Alzheimer's Speaks Blog, Alzheimers.net, Alzheimer's Reading Room, Memory Memos, Moving in With Dementia

About the authors:
Max Wallack is a 17 year old junior at Boston University, as well as a researcher in the Molecular Psychiatry in Aging Laboratory at Boston University School of Medicine. Max was a caregiver to his great grandmother who had Alzheimer’s Disease, and, in 2008, he founded www.PuzzlesToRemember.org, a 501(C)3 organization that has supplied over 23,000 puzzles to Alzheimer’s facilities around the world. A member of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, Max gives research presentations at national conferences and publishes articles about his work in scientific journals. Max plans to become a geriatric psychiatrist, working with Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers.

Carolyn Smith Given is a mother of four, a caregiver, and a resident of the Blackstone Valley in Massachusetts. Since 2000, she has taught English Language Arts and Literature at both middle and high school levels, and currently performs medical research to support her husband's multiple myeloma therapies. For fun, she attends her children's weddings, invents gourmet vegan entrees, maintains a humor blog with more than 80 first person narrative vignettes -- all true – at www.carolyngivenwriter.blogspot.com. She enjoys any and all writing projects that come her way.

Reviewed by Laura & Son

Disclosure: Thanks to the author for sending us this book for review. We were not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Every Saturday, Booking Mama hosts a feature called Kid Konnection—a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, visit Booking Mama.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The Memory Clinic by Dr. Tiffany Chow

The Memory Clinic: Stories of Hope and Healing for Alzheimer's Patients and Their Families by Dr. Tiffany Chow
Viking Canada
ISBN: 978-0670066322
Published Jan 9, 2013
Hardcover, 272 pages

When I saw this book, I knew I wanted to read it. I co-lead day programs for seniors in the early stages of dementia and Alzheimer's, and I am always looking to learn more in this field. The Memory Clinic is written by Dr. Tiffany Chow, a behavioural neurologist in the Ross Memory Clinic at Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto, a centre we respect and highly admire in the community centre where I work in Montreal.

The first thing that struck me about this book is that it's easy to read. Dr. Chow uses anecdotes, and, in particular, illustrations and metaphors throughout her book, especially when explaining the treatments and latest research. Written in the first-person point of view, reading it felt as if Dr. Chow was sitting in front of me telling me about her experiences with Alzheimer's, her research, her family history and her own personal goals to prevent getting Alzheimer's. Part memoir, part discussion on dementia, Dr. Chow comes across as a compassionate doctor who understands what it's like to have a family member suffer from Alzheimer's since her own beloved grandmother died from this illness. True to its title, Dr. Chow fills this book with stories that are hopeful and inspirational even as they are heartbreaking, especially when she relates stories of her early onset clients.

The whole tone of the book is hopeful, compassionate and encouraging. “It takes a certain amount of grace and creativity to find the poetry within the broken narrative that is dementia,” says Dr. Chow. (p. 110 of review copy) What beautiful words! In my field I know this to be true. One has to look beyond the illness and find new ways of interacting so as not to lose the joy when dementia strikes and changes our loved one.

Some of the topics she discusses are: causes of dementia; why women suffer from Alzheimer's more than men; the inheritance factor; defences against dementia where she talks about cognitive reserve and brain plasticity; managing stress, eating well, doing exercise and social networking as ways to lower risk of dementia; the importance of the doctor-patient relationship; and the current and upcoming treatments, such as a vaccine against the beta form of amyloid. What intrigued me the most was the cognitive reserve theory. Dr. Chow states, “Scientists have learned that higher educational levels allow us to build up cognitive reserve, akin to the concept of saving money in the bank for an unforeseen crisis.” (p. 52 of review copy) I want to look more into this.

She ends the book with extensive notes filled with resources and bibliography of all the information she quotes such as studies, statistics, research and additional reading. An index is likewise included. I highly recommend this book to anyone working with person's with dementia, have a family member with dementia or are concerned about the risk of dementia. Statistics say that Alzheimer's is on the rise, therefore learning more about this illness will only help us to understand better and become more compassionate toward families and communities dealing with its effects.

Note: This book is rated C = clean read.

Reviewed by Laura

Disclosure: Thanks to Penguin Canada for sending me an e-galley copy through NetGalley for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.