Love, Loss, and Laughter: Seeing Alzheimer's Differently - Hardcover

Greenblat, Cathy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0762779071 ISBN 13: 9780762779079

Publisher: Lyons Press, 2012

Synopsis

See the BBC’s slideshow of photos from Love, Loss, and Laughter.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Love, Loss, and Laughter challenges the typical perception of people with Alzheimer’s as “empty shells,” lost to themselves and others. Endorsed by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), this important work melds uplifting photographs with thoughtful text by the author, care partners, researchers, medical practitioners, social care providers, activists, and people living with dementia diagnoses. While research for a cure will one day bring an end to the problem, this inspirational book shows and tells how today we can achieve ADI’s vision of a better life for people with dementia and their caregivers.
While there is great sadness in losing one’s cognitive abilities, family members and caregivers can share a wealth of love and moments of joy and laughter with people living with dementia. With the help of this book, our view of Alzheimer’s can shift from “the long goodbye” to “the long hello.”
More than one hundred touching photographs—taken in homes, memory clinics, day programs, and residential centers around the world—are interwoven with insightful commentaries from contributors whose personal experiences and statements about good practices reinforce the author’s message: people with dementia retain vital capacities.

About the Author:

The author/photographer brings expertise as a sociologist to the project. Cathy Greenblat, Ph.D., (BA, Vassar College, MA, PhD Columbia University) has engaged in a cross-cultural photographic project on aging, dementia, and end of life care since 2001. She is Professor Emerita of Sociology at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) where she served as a member of the Department of Sociology, Women’s Studies, and the Bloustein School of Planning, teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses. During her academic career she authored more than 100 professional articles and 14 books including textbooks, trade books and specialized sociology books. A photography book, Alive with Alzheimer’s (University of Chicago Press, 2004), and the German translation (Alzheimer und Lebensqualitat) were published after her retirement.

 

In addition to the author’s professional expertise, she has been affected by Alzheimer’s in a personal way.  Both maternal grandparents succumbed to Alzheimer’s. Her grandfather, a successful attorney and politician, spent his final years disconnected from life. When home care became two difficult, both were reluctantly placed in ‘premier’ facilities where “care” meant keeping the patient fed, hydrated, and safe. When her mother was diagnosed years later, the author was able to provide a much richer life and context.

About this edition

• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0762779071
• ISBN 13: 9780762779079
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176