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family caregiving experience

Cover art for the book "The Accidental Caregiver"

“The Accidental Caregiver” by Kimberly Fraser

5 out of 5 stars. The Accidental Caregiver by Kimberly Fraser is an honest and unflinching look at the realities of being a family caregiver. I was interested in reading this book for two reasons. First, I am a physically disabled adult who relies on my family for caregiving and I wanted to see how the author portrayed the care recipient. Second, my parents were recently thrown into caregiving for my grandmother with Alzheimer’s and I felt like this book might be a good resource for them. Overall I am impressed with the variety of topics discussed by the author. While some of the vignettes were repeated across chapters I think they helped reinforce the concepts and ideas presented. They helped make it “real” for the reader. I also appreciated that the author provided concrete strategies for caregivers to utilize throughout their journey. There are also policy suggestions included in many chapters which, as someone interested in advocacy I appreciated and thought was cool. 

Cover art for the book Living in the Moment by Dr. Elizabeth Landsverk and Heather Milar

“Living in the Moment” by Elizabeth Landsverk

4 out of 5 stars. Living in the Moment: A Guide to Overcoming Challenges and Finding Moments of Joy in Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias by Dr. Elizabeth Landsverk is an easy to read, practical guide for the family navigating this journey and focuses on helping to create the best life you can for your loved one with dementia. While I am not the primary caregiver for my loved I still found it really informative. The book isn’t super depth but goes just deep enough to serve as a good reference, especially when it comes to understanding the types of medications your loved one may be taking or offered. The caveat is since I’m not a pharmacist, physician, or other type of provider I can’t say with 100% certainty that all the information is correct. I would hope so given that the author is a physician specializing in this field but you never know. Therefore it’s always best to talk with your own care team when making decisions about medications (and procedures, tests etc.). Something that I really liked about the book is the author emphasized making decisions with (and when needed, for) your loved one that essentially boils down improving or maintaining quality vs quantity of life.