The Best Friends Staff: Building a Culture of Care in Alzheimer's Programs - Softcover

Virginia Bell; David Troxel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1878812637 ISBN 13: 9781878812636

Publisher: Health Professions Press, 2001

Synopsis

The Best Friends approach is changing the lives of people around the world by improving the quality of life not only for clients with Alzheimer’s disease but also for the staff providing care. Authors Virginia Bell and David Troxel are recognized internationally for their innovative work helping people with dementia. Here, they present a training approach geared to help your staff achieve better outcomes and more rewarding experiences and help you retain an effective, satisfied staff. Read stories and ideas from real staff in facilities worldwide who are already implementing the Best Friends approach with their residents. Get the inspiration and working tools to transform your care culture, including hundreds of case studies illustrating successful programs, creative ideas you can use to implement change, proven advice on staff training and retention, and a training toolkit in each chapter that features learning exercises, activities, games, and resources. Help your staff make every day more enjoyable and secure for people with Alzheimer s disease and more rewarding for themselves.

About this title

About the Author

Virginia Bell has lectured widely on Alzheimer's disease at national and international conferences, speaking at 12 National Education Conferences of the Alzheimer's Association and lecturing at 18 conferences of Alzheimer's Disease International. Sheâ??s published journal articles and books, notably in Dementia Care: Patient, Family and Community (John Hopkins, 1989). Many of her articles have been reprinted numerous times: "The Alzheimer's Disease Bill of Rights" (1994), "The other Face of Alzheimer's Disease" (1999) and "Spirituality and the Person with Dementia" (2001), co-authored with David Troxel and published in the American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and in the Alzheimer's Care Quarterly. She has also co-authored five books with David Troxel. Virginia is currently the Program Consultant for the Greater Kentucky and Southern Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.

David Troxel is an internationally known expert in Alzheimerâ??s and memory care. Heâ??s best known for his work with residents and families, and is an informative and engaging speaker. David holds a Masters Degree in Public Health from Rutgers Medical School. During the 25 years that heâ??s worked in the field, heâ??s also served as an Executive Board member of the American Public Health Association and the Ethics Advisory Panel for the US National Alzheimerâ??s Association. David has co-authored four influential books (most notably, The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimerâ??s Care) on Alzheimerâ??s relating to the disease care as well as staff development and training. Davidâ??s â??Best Friends Approachâ? is built on a seemingly simple premise: that what people living with memory loss need most is a friend â?? a best friend. David teaches caregivers how to understand and fulfill this â??Best Friendsâ? role, including special caregiving techniques and tools. He lives in Sacramento as a writer, speaker and consultant.

Review

"The Best Friends Staff is the best book that I have ever read for these important staffers. I’m convinced if all A.D. units used this book – the world would be a better place." (Alzheimer's Association, Rocky Mountain Chapter Reviews 2001-01-01)

"The Best Friends™ philosophy ... has been adopted as a model throughout Maine and has become one of our most valuable caregiving resources. We’ve seen it in action and heartily recommend it!" (Maine Alzheimer's Association Reviews 2001-01-01)

About this edition

• Publisher: Health Professions Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1878812637
• ISBN 13: 9781878812636
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272