Deborah Shouse - Connecting in the Land of Dementia: Creative Activities to Explore Together

Special Praise for Connecting in the Land of Dementia

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, Alzheimers Disease International

Making the most of the moment is the essence of Connecting in the Land of Dementia. Deborahs creative and imaginative ideas on ways to engage your loved one with Alzheimers disease are meant to channel frustration into fulfillment and lift the human spirit.

Meryl Comer

President, Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimers Initiative Author of New York Times best seller Slow Dancing with a Stranger: Lost and Found in the Age of Alzheimers

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.

Trish Vradenburg

Cofounder, UsAgainstAlzheimers Cofounder, WomenAgainstAlzheimers

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. Its also a rare collection of wisdom from dozens of experts worldwide who specialize in creative dementia care. We can turn to any chapter and be inspired.

Martha Stettinius

Author of Inside the Dementia Epidemic: A Daughters Memoir

Buy this 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. Even 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 indispensible 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 & MEMORYSM

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

Radio Host, Keynoter, and Founder of www.alzheimersspeaks.com

Connecting in the Land of Dementia simply shines as a beacon of hope for persons living with dementia and their care partners. Theres 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 WisconsinMilwaukee 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 Alzheimers 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. The author has a gift for bringing light and love to her writing without minimizing the realities of dementia and caregiving. Deborah understands from a firsthand perspective that a care partner has plenty of duties already, so this book doesnt give the reader the sense that there is yet more to add to my to-do list. Instead, the book is about the infinite possibilities and opportunities to connect, create, and imagine together.

Carmen Mendieta, MPA

Brookdale National Group Respite Program

Deborahs 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 Alzheimers 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 ones realities of living with dementia.

Leisa Easom, PhD, RN

Executive Director, Pope Eminent Scholar Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving Georgia Southwestern State University

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, Alzheimers Foundation of America

The opportunity to connect through music, dancing, poetry, 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

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2016 by Deborah Shouse