Dr. Ruth's Guide for the Alzheimer's Caregiver

January 1, 2013

Iconic sex therapist Westheimer (coauthor, Sex For Dummies) has done it again! Thanks to this celebrity author's knack for making readers feel at ease with some of their most personal questions, families dealing with Alzheimer's disease now have a down-to-earth guide to help them. Caregivers (and their attendant questions and needs) are the focus of this work, but anyone who wants to know more about Alzheimer's will find it useful and informative. Caregiving for spouses and parents are detailed in separate chapters, as is the topic of dealing with professional caregivers. Most valuable is the chapter discussing how to help children and grandchildren cope with the parent or grandparent who is changing in ways youngsters may not understand. Part 1 provides information but focuses on the emotional needs of families dealing with this tragic disease. Part 2 is more factual and discusses practical issues, such as sundowner's syndrome, how to "elder-proof" your home, how to communicate effectively with a person with Alzheimer's, the inheritability of the disease, and current treatments. VERDICT This useful book is great for individual carers and is the perfect adjunct to support groups for families dealing with Alzheimer's or other types of dementia.--Frances Mentch, Cleveland State Univ. Lib.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2012
Caregivers will find the answers to even the most awkward questions in this down-to-earth guide by sexpert Westheimer. As Dr. Ruth writes in the introduction to her thirty-fifth book, she is neither a medical doctor nor an Alzheimer's expert. But she does hold a doctorate in education, and she puts that knowledge to good use here by not sugarcoating a disease that robs people of their personalities. An estimated 15 million Americans take care of nearly 6 million people diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and all can benefit from Dr. Ruth's advice to caregivers to assess their situations practically, like a general or a CEO, rather than letting their emotions take over. Perhaps because she is an 84-year-old Holocaust survivor who lost her entire family, Dr. Ruth is an empathetic guide. With the help of Lehu, her longtime coauthor, she tackles any and all topics, including sex, explaining that because Alzheimer's patients lose their inhibitions, they may masturbate in public, and reminding caregivers that sex feels good, even to someone who has Alzheimer's. An excellent, commonsense guide to a heartbreaking disease.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)