Andrew Seth Rosenzweig MD - The Harsh Realities of Alzheimers Care

Andrew S. Rosenzweig

JULIE SILVER, MD, is Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and is on the medical staff at Brigham & Womens, Massachusetts General and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospitals in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Silver has authored, edited or co-edited dozens of book, including medical textbooks and consumer health guides. She is also the Chief Editor of Books at Harvard Health Publications. Dr. Silver has won many awards including the American Medical Writers Association Solimene Award for Excellence in Medical Writing and the prestigious Lane Adams Quality of Life Award from the American Cancer Society. Silver is active teaching health care providers how to write and publish, and she is the Director of an annual course offered by the Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education titled Publishing Books, Memoirs and Other Creative Non-Fiction. For more about her work, visit www.JulieSilverMD.com.

Copyright 2012 by Andrew S. Rosenzweig, MD, MPH

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rosenzweig, Andrew S.

The harsh realities of Alzheimers care : an insiders view of how people with dementia are treated in institutions / Andrew S. Rosenzweig.

p. cm. (The praeger series on contemporary health and living)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 9780313398902 (hardback : alk. paper) ISBN 9780313398919 (ebook)

I. Title. II. Series: Praeger series on contemporary health and living. 19328079 [DNLM: 1. Alzheimer Diseasepsychology. 2. Attitude of Health Personnel. 3. Caregiverspsychology. 4. Long-Term Care. 5. Quality of Life. WT 155]

616.83dc23 2012014834

ISBN: 9780313398902

EISBN: 9780313398919

1615141312 12345

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Manufactured in the United States of America

ANDREW S. ROSENZWEIG, MD, MPH, is considered one of the foremost experts on treating dementia and on increasing the quality of life for patients and caregivers. He is a board-certified geriatric psychiatrist who has worked in the fields of dementia and long-term care since completing his fellowship training in Geriatric Psychiatry in 1996. He has a Masters of Public Health degree in Epidemiology and has worked in multiple settings relevant to this topic, including home-care, office-based care, general and psychiatric hospitals, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes. Presently he is Chief Clinical Officer for MedOptions, the largest provider of behavioral health services to nursing home and assisted living facility residents in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. MedOptions serves over 25,000 residents in 400 facilities through a staff of 250 clinicians. As Chief Clinical Officer, he collaborates with advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers. He is also an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University. He received a 2007 Teaching Recognition Award from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. In 2010 he was the Alzheimers site guide for About.com, a New York Times company. He has participated in and testified at numerous court hearings involving legal guardianship and mental capacity, and he has lectured frequently on issues involving late-life mental health and dementia. He has led support groups in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and he has provided numerous inservice educational programs to facility staff. Most importantly, though, hes learned that while the best outcomes often involve trial and error, nothing predicts success more than listening, attempting to understand what others (patients, staff, and caregivers alike) are trying to communicate, and respecting their beliefs and opinions.

Julie Silver

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Excellent Care for Cancer Survivors: A Guide to Fully Meet Their Needs in Medical Offices and in the Community

Kenneth Miller, MD, Editor

Over the past 100 years, there have been incredible medical breakthroughs that have prevented or cured illness in billions of people and helped many more improve their health while living with chronic conditions. A few of the most important twentieth century discoveries include antibiotics, organ transplants, and vaccines. The twenty-first century has already heralded important new treatments including such things as a vaccine to prevent human papillomavirus from infecting and potentially leading to cervical cancer in women. Polio is on the verge of being eradicated worldwide, making it only the second infectious disease behind smallpox to ever be erased as a human health threat.

In this series, experts from many disciplines share with readers important and updated medical knowledge. All aspects of health are considered including subjects that are disease specific and preventive medical care. Disseminating this information will help individuals to improve their health, and that of loved ones, as well as help researchers to determine where there are gaps in our current knowledge, and help policy makers to assess the most pressing needs in healthcare.

Series Editor Julie K. Silver, MD

Assistant Professor

Harvard Medical School