This award-winning book guides families and professionals who are making decisions for those with varying degrees of mental capacity. (New 2nd edition includes 40 bonus pages from The Caregiver's Path Workbook.) Viki adaptable system for making choices comes as much from her heart as from her extensive experience as a bioethicist. KindEthics.com
About the book:
You know how difficult--even heartbreaking--it can be to make decisions for someone with dementia, stroke, Parkinson's, developmental disability, mental illness, or other brain injury. Feeling confident that you've made the right decision would be a welcome relief from the worry and guilt you may be feeling.
The Caregiver's Path is an invaluable resource for caregivers struggling to make the right decisions, whether it's taking away the car keys, moving to a long-term care facility or making the difficult medical and end-of-life choices.
Readers will learn the framework and tools to create a good, ethical decision. These tools will help give voice to those who can't speak for themselves. The book provides specific strategies and questions to use along the decision making pathway. Respect and compassion are the core values of this decision making process.
This is not a one-size-fits-all solution but can be adapted depending on the individual's level of incapacity and the situation. Throughout the book are personal and real-life stories to help illustrate these tools. At the end of the book, Viki gives expanded end-of-life guidance for making the most difficult decisions.
Recommended by:
Booklist
Journal of Hospital Librarianship.
Journal of Gerontological Social Work
Alzheimer's Association
NAMI Advocate - National Alliance on Mental Illness
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation Paralysis Resource Center
Muscular Dystrophy Association
McKnight's Long Term Care News
Dementia Australia
Well Spouse Association
Pain Management Nursing Journal
Journal of the Catholic Health Association of the United States
Employee Assistance Report
Southern California Physician Magazine
Viki Kind is a clinical bioethicist, professional speaker and hospice volunteer. Her award winning book, The Caregiver's Path to Compassionate Decision Making: Making Choices For Those Who Can't, guides families, guardians and other professionals through the difficult process of making decisions for those who have lost capacity. (2nd edition of her book just released.) She also has a workbook available at KindEthics.com. The Caregiver's Path: Resource Workbook, Conversation Guide and Visual Toolkit, provides uniquely designed communication tools for managing challenging conversations such as evaluating danger and risk, managing guilt and denial, end-of-life decisions, and helping the family know when it is time to create a new care plan. Viki is known as "The People's Bioethicist," because she is a rare individual who bridges two worlds, that of the health care professional and of the family struggling to make the right decision. Viki spends much of her time speaking at conferences out in the community teaching patients and family caregivers how to make better decisions regarding their health, life and end-of-life. She also lectures across the United States teaching professionals to have integrity, compassion and to improve care through better communication and ethical frameworks. Patients, families and professionals love Viki's practical approach to dealing with ethically challenging dilemmas. Her recent experience as an expert witness for a court case where an advance healthcare directive failed has inspired her to create a set of tools to increase advance directive success by making them personalized and meaningful instead of generic. Viki provides bioethics consultation and support for many hospitals in the Los Angeles area. She also provides private consultations for individuals who are struggling to make difficult decisions. She holds a master's degree in bioethics from the Medical College of Wisconsin and a bachelor's degree in speech communication from California State University at Northridge. She has specialized training in mediation and cultural negotiation from Pepperdine University and UCLA. Viki is an honorary board member of the Well Spouse Association. She has also been a caregiver for many years for six members of her family.
