Finding out your loved one has dementia can be overwhelming. There are so many questions beyond what the doctor can answer. How will you manage juggling caregiving with all that you do already? How will you explain what is happening to grandma to your children? How will your relationship change if you must parent your parent? How do you transition your loved one to senior living memory care when the need arises?
When families receive a diagnosis of dementia for a loved one, they usually want to learn as much as they can on the subject. That’s why we have developed free resources including guides and book recommendations that rely on our wealth of experience as a leader in senior living memory care.
Books for caregivers
We know the job of caring for a loved one is demanding. Because each situation is unique, our guide, Finding Your Way to Caring For a Loved One and You, offers a road map for exploring your personal caregiving journey. In it, you will find tips and advice as well as book, podcast, website, blog and video recommendations.
In our Resource Center, you will also find Caregiver dementia book reviews for two of our go-to books for dementia caregivers:
- Being My Mom’s Mom (Loretta Anne Woodward Veney)
- The 36-hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer’s Disease, Related Dementias and Memory Loss (Nancy L. Mace and Peter Rabins)
The Alzheimer’s Association is another great source for book recommendations about senior living memory care. You’ll find descriptions in their Recommended List of Books & Magazines of the following selections and many, many more:
- Alzheimer’s disease and dementia: what everyone needs to know (S. Sabat)
- Better living with dementia: implications for individuals, families, communities, and societies (L. Gitlin and Nancy Hodgson)
Books for children to learn about dementia
Dementia can be frightening and upsetting, especially for young children. That’s why we wrote a book about dementia just for them. Our award-winning The Unforgettable Adventures of Grandma’s Cape Children’s Activity Book is available as a free download in our Resource Center.
In addition, you can find reviews by Joel Kroft, Executive Director of Memory Support Services at Country Meadows Retirement Communities of seven of our favorite children’s books about dementia.
- Hugging Grandma: Loving Those with Memory Disorders (Zina Kramer) (Appropriate for Grades K-2)
- Striped Shirts and Flowered Pants (Barbara Schnurbush) (Appropriate for Grades K-2)
- Still My Grandma (Veronique Van den Abeele) (Appropriate for Grades 3-5)
- Always My Grandpa: A Story for Children About Alzheimer’s Disease (Linda Scacco) (Appropriate for Grades 3-5)
- Singing with Momma Lou (Linda Jacobs) (Appropriate for Grades 3-5)
- What’s Happening to Grandpa? (Maria Shriver) (Appropriate for Grades 4-6)
- The Memory Box (Mary Bahr) (Appropriate for Grades 4-6)
The Alzheimer’s Association’s Recommended List of Books & Magazines is also a great source for children’s book recommendations. A few of the selections include:
- Weeds in Nana’s garden: a heartfelt story of love that helps explain Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias (K. Harrison)
- An absent mind (E. Rill)
- Graduation of Jake Moon (B. Park)
Not enough time to read? Get trusted senior living memory care advice from local experts.
From our decades of providing senior living memory care, we know that sometimes there simply isn’t enough time or energy to read everything. That’s why our knowledgeable local advisors are here to help answer your questions, too.
Country Meadows Retirement Communities offers personalized senior living memory care at our locations in Pennsylvania and Frederick, Md. Depending on the level of care needed, our Connections Memory Support Services may include memory care, support with daily living and therapeutic programming to help reduce anxiety and frustration. Monthly family support groups are also part of our senior living memory care.
For families who want to know more about senior living memory care, we encourage you to tour or even stay for a trial night of the full Country Meadows experience. Call or schedule a tour today!
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