I'm Still Here: A Breakthrough Approach to Understanding Someone Living with Alzheimer's [Hardcover]

'My wife ... died of Alzheimer’s after a seven year illness, so I am familiar with the situation so masterfully set out in John Zeisel’s book. It is certainly the best book yet written about the predicament of Alzheimer’s patients and carers." --Professor John Bailey, CBE

"[T]o anyone living with a loved one who has Alzheimer’s, read this book, re-read i,; keep it for daily reference. It will change more lives than just yours." --John Suchet

"This book rages with an optimism and determination to champion the cause of sufferer and carer alike[.] .... This should be required reading for anyone with an ambition to create the future. It is both a clarion call and a cautionary tale from a gifted narrator blazing with humanity." --Tim Smit, CBE, chief executive and co-founder of The Eden Project --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

'A book that will give great hope and encouragement to anyone dealing with Alzheimer's sufferers either in a professional situation or at home... An optimistic book, it shows there is another way and that medication is not the only approach. One to watch.' THE BOOKSELLER 'John Zeisel's insights into Alzheimer's are not the narrow observations of a physician peddling a theory; they are observations and research into an intensely humane cry for understanding and represent nothing less than a radical revisiting of what it is to be a human being. Through peeling back its layers, this book reveals profound truths about our need to be needed by individuals and community and to know that we can contribute and have a purpose in life which is more than simple existence. This book rages with an optimism and determination to champion the cause of sufferer and carer alike. Zeisel's insights into Alzheimer's are as startling as they are fresh, forcing the reader to revisit the comfortable certainties of what they thought they understood to reveal that Alzheimer's has the ability to amplify our understanding of the human condition itself. I'm Still Here shows us that the yearning for belonging and the need for community and purpose in our lives develops engagement and through it, empowerment over our lives; demonstrating, as if demonstration were necessary, that healing forces are at work in a powerful sense of place and a connection to an aesthetic that anchors a person to a notion of who they are through what moves them. The humbling lesson from this book is that Alzheimer's provides a metaphor for modern life itself and to ignore it will leave us all the poorer. This should be required reading for anyone with an ambition to create the future. It is both a clarion call and a cautionary tale from a gifted narrator blazing with humanity.' TIM SMIT CBE, Chief Executive and co-founder of The Eden Project 'This important new book makes the case for a positive mindset about dementia; providing us with new concepts such as 'hard-wired' abilities and new meanings of words like "treatment". It is a valuable addition to materials available for relatives and friends of people with dementia.' Mary Marshall OBE, author and Director of the Dementia Services Centre, University of Stirling 'm Still Here is a startling, uncompromising, and deeply compassionate look at how we care for people living with Alzheimer's. It overflows with insight, practical advice, inspiration and hope' DAVID HYDE PIERCE, actor and Alzheimer's advocate 'I'm Still Here offers a revolutionary yet pragmatic map for the compassionate care of people with cognitive impariments like Alzheimer's disease. John Zeisel's brilliant, soft-spoken, and heartwarming manifesto is a must read for anyone whose life involves helping someone with these special needs, a guide to new ways to connect to the person, not the disease' DANIEL GOLEMAN, author of EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE 'Just as the Alzheimer's 'perfect storm' is about to strike, wth an anticipated tripling of the number of people with the disease, comes a culture-changing book, I'M STILL HERE, with practical ways that enable families and professionals to look beyond the disease and then to find ways to emotionally connect with the person who is still there. This approach is truly an active treatment for dementia far more effective than any pill yet available' PAUL RAIA, PhD, Vice President, Patient Care and Family Support, Alzheimer's Association, Massachusetts and New Hampshire Chapter 'John Zeisel understands the importance of living environments and their influence on the Alzheimer's patient. He displays compelling sesitivity to the patient as well as caregivers, and he explores in detail creative ways to enhance the patient's quality of life. I recommend this book to anyone seeking a better understanding of this disease and its compassionate treatment, as well as the nurturing properties of thoughtfully and sensitively designed architecture' ROBERT H. SCHULLER, founding pastor, Crystal Cathedral 'Dr. Zeisel has provided a fresh approach to an old disease. By focusing on the assests and capabilities of the person with Alzheimer's, rather than the deficits and losses, he offers not only hope, but a renewed sense of the possibilities for continued connection and communication throughout the course of the disease. As science battles to eradicate the disease, Dr. Zeisel combines knowledgefrom the neurosciences and environmental sciences to support his practical, sound, and creative advice and apporaches for caregivers' CORNELIA BECK, PhD, RN, FAAN, Louise Hearne Chair in Dementia and Long-Term Care, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences 'John Zeisel proves a theory that many of us who love someone with Alzheimer's have suspected: that the person who is changed by the disease is still inside, waiting to be awakened and nurtured with love, with music, with paintings, and with poems, as well as one-on-one communication and physical and mental exercises. As the number of people with Alzheimer's continues to rise, this is a wonderful, much-needed book' MARY ELLEN GEIST, author of MEASURE OF THE HEART 'In this book John Zeisel illuminates the nature and needs of perons with Alzheimer's disease at all points in the course of their condition. Dr. Zeisel has developed important innovations that serve the emotional and intellectual needs of persons with Alzheimer's such as the museum tours program and other arts and design programs. The programs and related strategies for life enrichment described in this book can improve the lives of persons with Alzheimer's and those who love and care about them' BARRY REISBERG, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical Director, aging and Dementia Research Center, New York University School of Medicine 'A must read for all those who do - and all those who don't - live with the symptoms of dementia' RICHARD TAYLOR, author of Alzheimer's from the Inside Out --This text refers to the Perfect Paperback edition.