Living in the Moment: A Guide to Overcoming Challenges and Finding Moments of Joy in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias

Living in the Moment: A Guide to Overcoming Challenges and Finding Moments of Joy in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias

by Elizabeth Landsverk MD
Living in the Moment: A Guide to Overcoming Challenges and Finding Moments of Joy in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias

Living in the Moment: A Guide to Overcoming Challenges and Finding Moments of Joy in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias

by Elizabeth Landsverk MD

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Overview

Like a What to Expect When You're Expecting for dementia, Living in the Moment offers a comprehensive, easy-to-follow guide to understanding Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases, and what to do next. For caregivers and patients alike, renowned geriatrician Dr. Elizabeth Landsverk offers a path for patients to live a healthy and full life with dementia.

A loved one’s dementia diagnosis can leave you feeling scared and overwhelmed. But you are not alone. Dr. Elizabeth Landsverk, founder of ElderConsult Geriatric Medicine, has led thousands of patients through a brain disease diagnosis, equipping them with knowledge, tools, and support to help them live happy and engaged lives. She shares her expertise in this practical reference that offers helpful explanations, advice, and guidance through an often confusing and challenging new landscape.

Dr. Landsverk’s advice covers understanding the disease itself to managing a patient’s aggression and paranoia, from protecting against elder abuse to creating a long-range plan for patients and caregivers that includes home care, assisted living, and hospice care. LIVING IN THE MOMENT promises a plan that will minimize medication, treat pain, and relieve agitation, without falling back on standard medical approaches.

Here is everything you need to know about caring for your loved one and making his or her life the best possible, starting now. You’ll learn:


* How to recognize the earliest dementia changes
  • How to create a plan of action for today—and tomorrow—that will help to manage this new normal
  • Innovative new activities, and holistic interventions that can slow the progression of dementia
  • Comprehensive information on both prescription and OTC medications that can help or hurt dementia patients
  • Dealing with day-to-day challenges, from staying mobile to overcoming agitation and aggression without resorting to sedation
  • A guide to understanding powerful medications that are often prescribed, and do not work
  • How to relieve pain and calm agitation – without sedation or drugs
  • How to keep your vulnerable loved one safe and secure—both physically and financially
  • How and where to get help, including online support groups, home health care agencies, care managers, neuropsychologists, communities and day programs for people with dementia, and government agencies
  • Tips on keeping your loved one at home versus placement

Dr. Landsverk demystifies the ins and outs of dementia, explaining what it is and what it’s not, making sure you and your loved one will be ready to address whatever develops and maintain quality of life. Uniquely, Living in the Moment will transform how you think about dementia, providing comfort and support for the best life possible—at any stage.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780806541778
Publisher: Kensington
Publication date: 05/31/2022
Pages: 272
Sales rank: 389,742
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Elizabeth Landsverk, MD is the founder of ElderConsult Geriatric Medicine, a house-call practice, and Dr Liz Geriatrics, an online education and telehealth provider. Dr Landsverk has been triple-board-certified in internal medicine, geriatric medicine, and palliative care medicine and has served both as an assistant professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco and as a consultant for the San Francisco Elder Abuse Forensics Center. Through her house-call practice, Dr. Landsverk has helped thousands of elders. As an expert in managing dementia agitation without sedation, she's kept many of those patients, deemed “unplaceable,” from eviction or languishing in the hospital. She’s now distilling that knowledge and more into practical, easily implemented tips and processes. Through Dr Liz Geriatrics, she and her team provide direct advice and support to individual families along with educating healthcare workers, lawyers, guardians, and anyone else who works professionally with elders. For more information, visit DrLizGeriatrics.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 First Things First 11

Chapter 2 Living in the Moment 32

Chapter 3 Why You Need to Act 40

Chapter 4 Defining the Goals of Care 65

Chapter 5 Getting a Formal Diagnosis 95

Chapter 6 Treatment: The Standard of Care 103

Chapter 7 Dementia and Behavioral Problems 123

Chapter 8 Treating Challenging Behavior with Medication 142

Chapter 9 Living with Dementia: Coping Day-to-Day 182

Chapter 10 Getting Help: Options for Families 211

Chapter 11 Getting Help: Long-Term Care Alternatives 225

Chapter 12 Legal Matters: Protecting Your Loved One 246

Final Note 264

Resources and Further Information 266

Acknowledgments 270

Index 271

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