Stuff Every Dementia Caregiver Should Know

Nobody hands you a manual when someone you love develops dementia.

Suddenly, you're dealing with questions you never imagined you'd need to ask:

Why does she keep asking the same question?
Why doesn't explaining work anymore?
Why is he accusing me of things that never happened?
When is it no longer safe for her to be alone?
How do I know when it's time to get more help?
And why am I falling apart?

Stuff Every Dementia Caregiver Should Know is a practical, plain-language guide for family caregivers navigating Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia and other forms of dementia.

Through 161 short, approachable entries, dementia caregiver, writer and illustrator Deb Jeffrey helps make sense of the confusing, frustrating, heartbreaking-and sometimes downright bizarre-things that can happen along the dementia journey.

Inside, you'll find help understanding:

• Memory loss, confusion and changes in thinking
• Repetitive questions and difficult communication
• Hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, Capgras syndrome and other changes in reality
• Challenging or unexpected dementia behaviors
• Bathing, dressing, eating, toileting and everyday tasks
• Driving, wandering, medications and home safety
• Sudden changes that may need medical attention
• Doctors, medications and professional help
• Respite care, in-home care, memory care and getting more support
• Caregiver exhaustion, guilt, grief and the relentless mental load of caregiving
• Advanced dementia, hospice, dying and end-of-life questions

This isn't a textbook, and you don't have to read it from beginning to end.

Start with the Stuff you're dealing with today.

Dog-ear it. Highlight it. Write in the margins. Keep it nearby for the next time dementia does something completely unexpected and you find yourself wondering:

Wait...why is he DOING that?!

Whether you're just beginning to wonder if someone you love may have dementia, adjusting to a new diagnosis, caring for someone in the middle stages, or facing advanced dementia and end-of-life decisions, this book is designed to meet you where you are.

Because you don't need to know everything about dementia today.

You just need a little help with what's happening right now.