DIGNITY AND GRACE

Discovering how to live with dementia

"I'm a stranger in a strange land," sighed the dignified gentleman Janet L. Ramsey met walking down the care-center hallway. Those words, her first glimpse of the confusion that comes with dementia, led her into a lifetime of work with older adults.

If you have been diagnosed with dementia or you are accompanying someone with this illness, you may find yourself on a journey that began with a sudden diagnosis and an acute sense of panic. Or perhaps your journey started gradually, as you noticed changes in yourself or in your partner or parent. Whether sudden or gradual, the impact of a diagnosis of dementia reorganizes a family's entire life.

Drawing on her own experience as a pastor, teacher, therapist, and family caregiver, as well as on interviews with eight family and professional caregivers, Janet L. Ramsey helps caregivers and those with impaired memories learn as they listen to each other. She also shows them how the Holy Spirit can awaken their imagination and understanding while they discover how to live with dementia.

"Janet L. Ramsey has written an honest, personal, and wise book about living with what she calls the 'tough hope' that can sustain people through the dementia journey. From her experiences as caregiver, pastor, chaplain, marriage and family counselor, and professor, she weaves together stories of individuals living in what she aptly describes as the 'messy world' of dementia. She introduces readers to several ordinary, courageous individuals whose stories animate this book. Like other books about dementia, Ramsey's work offers many practical approaches to issues like communication strategies. However, unlike any I have read, she relates how the practices of giving and receiving dementia care can support and sustain spiritual resiliency." -- Dr. Susan Mcfadden, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

"Ramsey's book is unique in that it offers both useful, practical advice (such as how to communicate with someone with dementia) as well as emotional and spiritual guidance for those who are confronted with this challenging but also (potentially) very rewarding job. Ramsey pulls directly from her experiences as a caregiver, a therapist, and a pastor, weaving them together into an inspirational but also realistic handbook for caregivers. Hers is an elegant voice that lends itself to engrossment! As a therapist myself, I found this to be an elucidating read and have already used its insightful content to deepen my own work with caregivers. I would definitely recommend this book to those who find themselves on this spiritual journey called caregiving, as well as to therapists, pastors, or other helping professionals who support caregivers and want to expand their empathy and understanding of what the experience of caregiving is like at the core level." --Katherine Luedke, Psy D. Clinical Psychologist, Salem VA Medical Center, Salem, Virginia