Therapeutic Caregiving [Paperback]

Barbara J. Bridges (Author), Bridges (Author), Jaime Temairik (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Barbara Bridges is a Registered Nurse with in-home caregiving experience for two parents with dementing illness. In Therapeutic Caregiving she has written a practical guide for anyone who has assumed responsibility for the care and management of someone with Alzheimer's or other dementia causing disease or injury. Bridges combines her extensive professional expertise with practical, step-by-step practical advice. Encompassing compassion for the person with dementing illness, Therapeutic Caregiving presents specific techniques for keeping persons with dementia more functional, both mentally and physically. Therapeutic Caregiving is expressly written for family members and employed in-home caregivers, but it is also ideal for the staff of adult family homes and home health agency workers. Therapeutic Caregiving provides suggestions for that long term care professionals in group home and nursing home environments as well. Important information is provided on the "art of cueing" to promote independence in performing normal activities and logical thinking processes or memory stimulation, promoting mental and intellectual functioning, the use of structuring and scheduling, prevention of unnecessary anxiety and stress, management of problem behaviors, managing confusion and/or disorientation, managing depression, and providing a climate for independent functioning and a sense of well-being. Especially useful are the appendices which feature additional reading lists, video tape resources, dementia information and support groups, a sample daily schedule, a sample oral hygiene cueing regimen, a sample cueing regimen for getting out of a chair or off a toilet seat, an introduction to exercise segments (General Information, Exercise Frequency, Appropriate Clothing, The Importance of Counting), warm-up and balance exercises, range of motion exercises, stretching and cool-down exercises, aerobic exercises, and toning exercises. Therapeutic Caregiving is one of the clearest, best written, well organization "how-to" books on Azheimer's care-giving now available to the non-specialist general reader as well as the professional health worker. -- Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Ms. Bridges is an experienced registered nurse, who interrupted her career to care for both of her parents who had Alzheimer's disease. She runs her own business, BJB Geriatric Services, offering elder (geriatric) care management services, and dementia caregiving educational programs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: BJB Publishing; 2 edition (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964517809
• ISBN-13: 978-0964517806
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #880,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Barbara was born in the Seattle, Washington, area of the Pacific Northwest. She received an undergraduate degree in Nursing, and a graduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington, and holds graduate degrees in Nursing and Health Care Management from California State University at Los Angeles. She has more than 40 years of nursing experience, including several years in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps, and many years as a critical care nurse, and a nursing administrator in major hospitals in Southern California.

Barbara interrupted her nursing career to become a caregiver for both of her parents who had dementing illness as they aged--Alzheimer's disease and strokes. Fourteen years of experience as a caregiver led to the start of her own business as a geriatric care manager, consultant, and educator. Barbara is the author of Therapeutic Caregiving: A Practical Guide for Caregivers of Persons with Alzheimer's and Other Dementia-Causing Diseases, a book which is recommended by many Alzheimer's Association chapters and Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers nation-wide. She presents seminars for family member and professional caregivers, and is a support group facilitator for the Alzheimer's Association of Western and Central Washington.

Website: barbarabridges.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful guide for the Alzheimer's caregiver, December 4, 2001

By 

Brenda Parris Sibley (Decatur, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Therapeutic Caregiving (Paperback)

This book is indeed "a practical guide" for not only getting through each day, but also making each one better than it might have been otherwise. The chapters on communication and cueing will help in developing skills that will help make each day more pleasant, as will the chapters on preventing stress and managing problem behaviors. I was especially impressed with the "What If" questions in chapter seven, for example "What if you went to bed and didn't know whether it was nighttime or daytime? What if you woke up from a nap in the afternoon and thought it was time for breakfast? What if you became frightened or lost in a darkened room?" (p. 62)--these questions help us to imagine what it's like for an Alzheimer's patient. All of this, plus the day-to-day, eating, sleeping, hygiene, and even exercise, is covered in this book by Barbara J. Bridges, an RN who spent fourteen years caring for both her parents. I highly recommend this book for all caregivers.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Creates structure to support patient's function & confidence, July 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Therapeutic Caregiving (Paperback)

It says right up front that this is not a book about caring for the caregiver; this one focuses on the patient with dementing illness in an almost businesslike fashion. It's a refreshing approach. While the patients in the book are relatively advanced in the illness, be aware that the techniques would be especially fruitful if adopted EARLY in the illness -- they create good habits. It was useful to have an insight into the emotional state of a confused episode and to be reminded that the patient truly wants and needs to retain function. The advice is to resist the urge to do everything for them! And the tips show how to help them continue to do for themselves.

The techniques are great, though there are far too few examples of "cueing", considering the importance of that particular technique. The reference section or author's web site may address this.

A very good book for taking positive action in caring for dementia patients!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice mix of the professional, the practical, the personal.,, September 24, 2001

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Therapeutic Caregiving (Paperback)

I read this book during the first half of my 9-year caregiving ordeal with an AD parent and found it useful in managing many immediate problems as well as preparing me for the inevitable. The author does not devote questionable space to vitamins, herbs, medications believed by some to retard the progress of the disease but concentrates on the human aspects, looking at things from the afflicted's perspective as much as the caregiver's. A qualified medical professional, she balances practical advice with expressing her own emotions about her personal relationship with her mother. I would have to qualify my endorsement of the book somewhat by observing that the disease can wreak greater havoc, can take a more unpredictable, disturbing course than that suggested by the author's experience, which is perhaps a bit on the "tidy" side. Also, I would have appreciated more specific warnings about the practices of nursing homes as well as suggestions about securing professional medical care for someone with AD, especially when the patient is too sick to go to a physician's office but not sick enough to be admitted to a hospital. Far too often individuals in this position are treated only for "behavioral" problems (ie. sedating drugs) at the expense of their overall health and physical condition.