Customer Reviews

How to Say It to Seniors: Closing the Communication Gap with Our Elders

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's shocking that this book is being marketed merely to professionals who must deal with the vagaries of the senior personality. It's simply the best book on the subject I've read. The author has a huge heart for seniors and those who work with them--professionals, certainly, but also neighbors, friends, children, grandchildren.

If you're looking for a book on how to manhandle or finesse the elderly into doing what you want (even for their own good), then this isn't for you. Solie explains the new goals seniors face as they contemplate their lives--often alone, as peers and spouses die--and the twin conflicting motivations they must wrangle with--the need for control, and the need to let go. Walking us through their worlds--a world that, if we're honest, we can't but guess at--Solie gently prods us to reevaluate WHY we are communicating so poorly, and how we can improve. In the end, it is we who must change, especially our instinct to bully the senior into a more comfortable situation (usually for US, but as always, "for their own good").

Respect, love, sympathy, and cheer shine out of his writing and text. I read it in one sitting, and found myself in tears. Why didn't I have this book when my mother was still alive?

I have read over thirty book offering advice to professionals in the Securities and Planning industry in the last couple of years. This book is by far the most important book I have read. It provides critical advice on how to deal with some of advisors most important clients. Using Solie's advice can help advisors impact peoples lives far beyond their money. Communication with older people has been some of the most difficult conversations I have had professionally and within my own family. I only wish I had read this book when my Mother was still alive.

David Solie has written a remarkable book - "How to Say It to Seniors: Closing the Communications Gap with our Elders." It's aimed squarely at baby boomers who are attempting to handle the difficulties, frustrations, and guilt they feel as they try to achieve effective communication with their elders. Such attempts often fail because of the different agendas held by the middle-aged and the elderly. Mr Solie has unearthed two principal motives in elderly people's verbal and non-verbal behavior - to maintain control over their lives, and to discover their legacy, or how they will be remembered.

The book's approach is logical. Theory is presented, examples of miscommunication are provided, and solutions (or, at the very least, reasonable alternative approaches) are offered. Mr Solie suggests that the reader looks first at the sections that most directly apply to a particular situation, and then returns to the theoretical underpinnings for adapting their behavior. Everyone - whatever age - can relate to the examples chosen, and I submit that everyone can learn from the solutions offered. The writing is clear, simple, and pithy. I particularly liked the apt quotations used in the chapter headings. As a 73-year-old, I cannot recommend this book too highly.

Every now and then a new work comes along that once you read it-it forever changes the way you see the world. "How To Say It To Seniors" is one of those rare books. If everyone having a communication problem with their elders or even juniors for that matter were to read this book, an enormous cloud of noxious frustrated miscommunication would lift from America like the sudden clearing of a heavy fog-a fog of despair.

This book was written in part to help business professionals in dealing with seniors, but it is also profoundly useful in helping baby boomers communicate successfully with their aging parents. If you are experiencing a communications disconnect with an elder or know someone who is, then this advice will have a very positive impact of your life. "How To Say It To Seniors" gets the highest recommendation that I can give along with the full realization that it has the potential to save you from a lifetime of regret. Here is a chance to communicate with your elders while there is still time. I hope this books winds up on the best-seller list and remains there, the world will be a much better place for it.

David Solie was a speaker at a conference I attended this spring. Along with getting to hear him speak, I obtained a copy of his book, "How to Say it to Seniors". I went home and tried some of these strategies with my mother and the results were astounding. The book was easy to read and understand as Mr. Solie uses entertaining stories to illustrate his message.

I have now purchased 5 more of these books and have donated one to my church library, one to our parish nurse, one to my mother and will be making this book available to all my clients as this book, and the techniques contained within, go far beyond my professional use of these strategies. This is a book for everyone who has an aged parent, grand-parent, elderly neighbor, or who deals with elderly people, either professionally, or on a personal level.

By profession I am an estate planner. I have ushered both parents from this earth after confronting their very real crises in their search for answers in what their limited future would hold for them.

Mr. Solie addresses our frustrations in communicating with the elderly. I am embarassed at my annoyance with my parents for what was their pain. A pain I could not feel because I did not understand.

Mr. Solie's concept is simple: Our "problem" with seniors and their quirks is their search for a peace of mind at life's end. This revelation elevates an obligation of a child in putting up with "irrational" seniors to the act of offering them a path to mental balance. Put this way, the relationship approaches being a holy task.

More than this, understanding Mr. Solie's insight, offers all of us a guide to our own search for meaning in lives that often turned out much different than we thought they would.

There are many books on how to care and plan for an elderly person, but this is one of the few designed to deal with the often delicate issue of communicating about those plans. This is an excellent book for anyone caring for seniors, either as a family member or in a professional capacity. I am a legal aid hotline attorney and own an online medical supply business. In both capacities I work with many seniors and those who care for them. This book fills in an important gap in the caregiving relationship. I strongly recommend it.

It's one thing to make plans for the care of elderly loved ones, and another to carry out the plans. Talking about sensitive subjects with elders is often a challenge, and David's book offers a solid foundation of communication tips when conversing with older generations. I have been writing about caregiving issues and conducting workshops for family members and professionals for decades, and this book will be a welcome addition to my recommended resources.

This book is an excellent resource regarding communication with elders. It is crucial to recognize that seniors have issues, real concerns and fears that we don't understand. The book has helped me to see how listening to what my parents have to say is extremely important. The stories they tell should be heard and appreciated.

How To Say It To Seniors: Closing The Communication Gap With Our Elders by David Solie (an expert in geriatric psychology and the CEO/Medical Director of"Second Opinion", a life insurance brokerage corporation) is a practical and accessible guide to communicating effectively with older adults. Author David Solie provides invaluable insights and practical advice to gaining the trust and cooperation of the elderly, offering assistance to them without "taking over" the conversation, understanding the need of "legacy" with respect to the elderly, and learning how to listen and what to listen for. While especially recommended to professionals and para-professionals working with the elderly in matters ranging from business, to health, to daily living, How To Say It To Seniors is also of immense value to non-specialist general readers wanting to talk more effectively and to greater purpose with their own elderly parents, family members, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.