Overview

This is a book of stories, and a book of love. It is also a life-changing source of information that can revolutionize our relationship--both as individuals and a society--with one of the most vulnerable populations in our midst. In her decades as a caregiver, both personally and professionally, Ruth Dennis saw first-hand the tragic results of the medicalized, institutionalized way we have chosen in large part to care for people with dementia. And equally clearly, she saw a better way. In ""I'm Still Here""--Lost and Found in the Alzheimer's Forest, Dennis explains a different way of making a difference--and achieving results in the most human of terms--through a care environment that ""honors the whole person."" Her story is fact-filled but yet deeply personal, a picture painted in colors taken from the day-to-day, flesh-and-blood experiences of her own dementia-care community. The key is creating an environment with countless enriching touchstones to the inner person, through facilities that are filled with art, animal companions, music, dance, books, laughter, and wholesome food. It is a world that embraces the goal of using the creative, artistic process to shape a more-loving, spiritual approach to aging for all elders and their families. This is a book without denial, without any papering over of the challenges that can be involved, and the sadness, anger, and frustration they may bring. It recognizes that people do act out, people do have pain, they do feel profound loss. Caregivers have jobs that can be the most fulfilling in the world but also the most exhausting and often most disrespected. A support group, or all the self-care advice in the world, cannot create more hours in the day or more money in the bank for a family caregiver who is desperately in need of sleep and filled with anguish over how to pay the next set of bills. There is not a magic way to decide when to place a loved one in a facility outside the home. There is no simple answer to care. ""I'm Still Here"" is a book with heroes, the dedicated, creative, and incredibly strong people who both need and give care. As they tell their stories, they lead us to explore the questions that must be asked to create a deeper and more-balanced mode of care. Our good fortune is to be guided in this by Ruth Dennis, an incredible teacher, as she shares her life's work--the work of a most passionate and compassionate heart.

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9781948749145

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Ruth Dennis is Social Services Director and Recreational Director at the Sierra Vista assisted living community in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has been a leader in the national movement toward de-institutionalized facilities for people with dementia that offer an ""intentional"" approach based on non-traditional services that honors the whole person. Her background includes more than 25 years of experience in mental health, the arts, and community education, serving, among others, gifted and at-risk children, the homeless, and the mentally ill and developmentally disabled.

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