Deborah Shouse's has written articles for The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Reader's Digest, Newsweek, Woman's Day, Hemispheres, Family Circle, Spirituality & Health, Chicago Tribune and MS. She writes a weekly column on love stories for the Kansas City Star, has co-written Working Woman's Communications Survival Guide, which is in its fifth printing and Antiquing for Dummies.
A 'must read' for every care partner because it really helps you to
look at things differently! This book is very special in the way it
provides you with hundreds of suggestions on how to be a good care
partner for someone with dementia and enjoy this yourself as well.
Deborah inspired me by bringing together so many positive examples
of using creativity to engage with people with dementia. --Marc
Wortmann, Executive Director, Alzheimer's Disease International
Making the most of the moment' is the essence of Deborah Shouse's
new book, Connecting in the Land of Dementia. Her creative and
imaginative ideas on ways to engage your loved one with Alzheimer's
disease are meant to channel frustration into fulfillment and lift
the human spirit. --Meryl Comer, President, Geoffrey Beene
Foundation Alzheimer's Initiative and Author of New York Times best
seller Slow Dancing with a Stranger: Lost and Found in the Age of
Alzheimer's
A thoughtful and positive guide to the very thing I find myself
constantly advocating to doctors, caregivers, and family
members--social stimulation and creative arts will limit the need
for psychiatric medication and improve the quality of life for
those with dementia more than anything else. --Doug Wornell, MD,
Life Solutions Group for Geriatric and Neurological Psychiatry
With interesting, delightful, specific detail, the reader is shown
how to keep the person living with dementia a part of life. Whether
it is through art or gardening or storytelling or dancing or music,
a life can go on. Bravo to Deborah Shouse for showing us how to
'connect in the land of dementia. --Trish Vradenburg, Cofounder,
UsAgainstAlzheimer's and WomenAgainstAlzheimer's
Connecting in the Land of Dementia is a lively and essential guide
for any dementia care partner who wants to help a loved one feel
joy and purpose through simple, fun activities. It's also a rare
collection of wisdom from dozens of experts worldwide who
specialize in creative dementia care. Even if we know little about
painting, poetry, dance, chickens, or llamas, we can turn to any
chapter and be inspired. --Martha Stettinius, Author of Inside the
Dementia Epidemic: A Daughter's Memoir
Deborah Shouse's inspiring book provides caregivers with tools from
which to create meaningful, life-enhancing activities that can
strengthen their connections. Buy the book, read it, highlight what
inspires you. As you make notes and bend pages to personalize this
guide, you are creating a family treasure. --Carol Bradley Bursack,
Founder of Minding Our Elders
Connecting in the Land of Dementia is an inspiring and creative
compilation of activities for dementia caregivers. Longtime
healthcare professionals will find innovative new projects to add
to their routines. We should thank Shouse for her lovingly prepared
collection that will be indispensable to so many of us. --Sandra
Stimson CADDCT CALA, AC-BC, ADC, CDP, CDCM, CFR-DT, CEO, National
Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners
Deborah Shouse provides a great public service by shining light on
the numerous creative activities that can meaningfully engage the
minds and spirits of persons living with Dementia. From
personalized music to storytelling, Shouse makes it easy for
caregivers to understand the various options they have to help
their loved ones navigate through their everyday lives. --Dan
Cohen, MSW, Founding Executive Director, Music & Memory, Inc.
Once again, Deborah Shouse delivers a book that softens our hearts
and opens our minds to find fun ways to connect to the soul. No
matter what our situation in life, no matter what our ability is to
communicate, we all crave and need to be connected to one another.
--Lori La Bey, Founder of Alzheimersspeaks website
Connecting in the Land of Dementia simply shines as a beacon of
hope for persons living with dementia and their care partners. The
innovative approaches and fresh ideas Deborah has curated will help
families impacted by this disease continue to connect with one
another at every stage. There's at least one great idea on every
page. I highly recommend it. --Mara Botonis, Author of When Caring
Takes Courage
Deborah has created an assuring, light of heart and deep in wisdom
weaving of the great thinkers and practitioners in the field of
dementia care. Here you will find bite-sized, inspirational
approaches to being in company with someone with memory loss. From
music to food, from painting to storytelling, she invites family
members to move past resistance (and understandable grieving) to
open themselves to a world of connection through creativity. --Anne
Basting, Professor of Theatre, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee &
President, TimeSlips Creative Storytelling
Deborah uses her experience as a caregiver and years of her own
research to create a fun and imaginative guide for caregivers that
draws on progress in the arts, physical exercise, and mental
stimulation. At its root is the premise that life can still be rich
with feeling and meaning even when living with dementia. --Jeffrey
M. Burns, MD, Codirector of the University of Kansas Alzheimer's
Disease Center
This uplifting book is really a 'can-do guide' that gives you
permission to relax and allow a bit of room for the creative
process to begin. The author has a gift for bringing light and love
to her writing without minimizing or sugarcoating the realities of
dementia and caregiving. Deborah understands from a first-hand
perspective that a care partner has plenty of duties already, so
this book doesn't give the reader the sense that 'there is yet more
to add to my to-do list.' Instead, the overall spirit of the book
is about the infinite possibilities and opportunities to connect,
create, and imagine together. --Carmen Mendieta, MPA, Brookdale
National Group Respite Program
Connecting in the Land of Dementia is a wonderful compilation of
shared experiences that remind and challenge us to think about
reaching out to individuals with Alzheimer's and other cognitive
challenges in new ways. Deborah's hopeful spirit comes dancing
through in every chapter, with so many wonderful projects and
innovators as her partner. All I can say is this: Listen to her.
--Michelle Niedens, LSCSW, Director of Education, Programs and
Public Policy, Alzheimer's Association, Heart of America
Chapter
This book shares stories of compassion and understanding. I found
new ways to focus on ensuring quality of life at any level of
cognition. It is a must read if you work in elder care settings.
--Alisa Tagg, BA, ACC/EDU, AC-BC, CDP, President, National
Association of Activity Professionals
Encouraging, new suggestions for merging caregivers' activities
with their loved one's realities of living with dementia. --Leisa
Easom, PhD, RN, Executive Director, Pope Eminent Scholar, Rosalynn
Carter Institute for Caregiving
This book inspires people to be creatively engaged. There are many
moments to interact play-Full-y. --Jolene Brackey, Author of
Creating Moments of Joy
Connecting in the Land of Dementia allows the opportunity to see,
in one comprehensive space, the numerous activities and
opportunities individuals can have with their loved ones through
the course of their dementia. Deborah Shouse and the experts she
calls upon provide concrete steps to ensure individuals living with
dementia and their caregivers will remain able to live a meaningful
life. --Molly Fogel, LCSW, Director of Educational and Social
Services, Alzheimer's Foundation of America
The opportunity to connect through music, dancing, poetry, card
playing, and more can lift the hopes of all who want to maintain
relationships with those they love late into dementia. --Alicia Ann
Clair, PhD, Music Therapist-Board Certified, Professor Emeritus,
The University of Kansas, Lawrence
In its infinite capacity to affect both the sufferer and the
caregiver, Alzheimer's dementia is in every way the medical
fraternity's most profound challenge. The complete collapse of an
individual's sense of identity is an agonizing event that calls for
not only therapeutic interventions but also creative endeavors that
can buffer the devastating effects of Alzheimer's reach. Deborah
Shouse's Connecting in the Land of Dementia is a venture into those
very creative realms, with comprehensive insight into the various
innovative modes ranging from laughter to music to arts. It is a
caregiver's wonderful companion to journey inside the heart of a
troubled mind. Compassionate and authentic, the book is a great
resource. --Shuvendu Sen, MD, Director, Medical Education, Raritan
Bay, Hackensack University, Author of Why Buddha Never Had
Alzheimer's: A Holistic Treatment Approach through Meditation, Yoga
and the Arts
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