Wow! Your new book, GENTLECARE Changing the Experience of Alzheimer's Disease is just what the doctor should have ordered for those of us who are caring for a person afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease. What a wonderful service you have provided us - the book is magnificent... As I read each of the first hundred or so pages, I found myself wanting to comment on nearly every page. You have captured so much of the soul of caregiving - from both sides... Your thoughtful teaching, your commitment to improving the lot of those who so desperately need a better system of care, your loving support of those doing the caregiving - what a wonderful gift for all of us. Thank you for once again providing us the tools we need - all wrapped up in your lovely lavender book covered with butterflies. Hopefully the world's view of caregiving and Alzheimer's will, like a butterfly, undergo a true metamorphosis.

A care-giver may conscientiously try to do her/his best but is often too distraught to think clearly or to know what action to take in a specific situation. This is where your book is a gold mine. It is just filled with relevant information, and with all possible methods of handling difficult situations. And it stresses the attitudes we need to adopt towards the residents with whom we are working.

There were twelve of us who represented our facility at that first meeting - the "pathology and philosophy" of GENTLECARE. You, as our instructor, "pounded" into us that elderly people have value... "that they suffer from a complex disease continuum; that they have a right to a meaningful existence; that they have diminished resources to control or direct their behaviour; that care providers can change their behaviour to be effective." It was while we were at our lunch break sitting around the table discussing all that we had heard from you that we soon became aware of two things: "we can do this" and "we must do this!"

The staff have now begun moving furniture so that we have 3 rest areas along the hall which have become very popular with our men, who sit quietly beside the lamp and chat late at night. The bedrooms are slowly being re-arranged in order to change the "little beige room" look and everyone seems to have an opinion.

The bread machine has become a popular part of the infrastructure, prompting a complimentary letter from a family member, "it made Frank's day", and this weekend they tried bacon early Sunday morning and srambled eggs for breakfast with lots of participation of both staff and residents.

Comments like, "Now that I see for myself what you have been telling us, I know it can work", "Come and take a look at Pat's room", and "It is really a lot of fun doing things the GENTLECARE way" are being voiced on a daily basis.

MOYRA JONES RESOURCES LTD.
Suite 871 - 104-1014 Columbia Street  New Westminster, B.C. Canada V3M 6V3
Voice: (604) 421-1680  Fax: (604) 421-1753  Email: info@gentlecare.com

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