The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementias, and Memory Loss

This is a must have book for anyone dealing with a loved one with dementia. It covers every aspect you could imagine (and some you can't) around living with a person with severe memory problems, especially the "stages" to expect and how to handle situations as they arise. The thing I liked the best was it was very reassuring to find out that my Mom was not "crazy" but she had a disease with certain symptoms and that what I was experiencing in dealing with this situation was not unique. It felt like having a good friend in my hands when I was upset and wondering if I was losing it at times. It helps to prepare one for what is ahead so when the next step occurs you are not shocked and can say, "oh, yeah, they wrote about that in the book." That was very helpful for guidance and for understanding that what we were experiencing was a normal part of the disease. I like it so well I bought another copy so I could leave my first one for my Mom's care givers who all were really grateful to be able to read this book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a loved one with dementia of any kind. It will save your sanity!

I first read this book about 13 or 14 years ago when dealing with my 85 yr old father...who had had a series of mini-strokes and had memory issues. I was out of my depth. While each person experiences different symptoms of aging and memory and different coping/defense mechanisms, I was able to gain much better understanding of the what and why and how to effectively handle daily issues... I just told my siblings to each buy it an read it... as we are now dealing with our 94 yr old mother and 92 yr old step-father. IT IS A MUST READ & KEEP FOR REFERENCE BOOK! I have purchase hard copies over the years to give to people who were struggling with their aging parents and they told me they found it a god-send. It won't reverse the course of events, but it brings forth understanding, strategies of coping and care, and a wealth of information and resources.

This book was wonderful to help me and my family to understand dementia ..how to help our Dad who had it and to understand him best and answers in different situations that would occur. How to not upset him and make him still feel in charge and how to make him comfortable when he would not understand what was going on. I highly recommend it!

This book is hard to get through, primarily because there are sections describing the suffering of dementia from the patient's perspective. When you're already grieving this diagnosis, it feels even worse to read paragraphs upon paragraphs of terror and isolation, of course imagining your own loved one going through the same thing. The sections on how to cope as a caregiver are dry but informative. A difficult truth about dementia is that you can't predict which symptoms will appear, so this book covers all of them. And it goes over some of the science behind the more frustrating symptoms, like when the patient is in total denial about their condition, which definitely helps the caregiver cope. They say this book is the bible of caring for a loved one with dementia/Alzheimers. I wish it was easier to navigate but it's definitely the most helpful guide I've read so far.

I wish I had bought this book as soon as my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. My father has received very little information from my mother's doctors on what to expect as her disease progresses and more importantly, how to deal with these issues. When I received the book, I looked up her latest problem in the index, dizziness, and turned right to an informative section that helped clarify what's going on with my mom. The bathing sections are helpful for understanding and thus coping with those issues. I appreciate the depth of topics and detail for symptoms that Alzheimer's patients can have; I am also grateful for the huge emphasis on respite care for the caregiver. This gives my siblings and me another avenue of discussion in getting help for my dad, who like many spouses has his own health issues. My only problem with the current hardback edition is the text size - it's a small font and closely spaced. I would hope that future revisions would enlarge the print a bit, especially since this book is generally going to be read by adults who appreciate a little larger print. Overall I highly recommend it - I've been flipping between this book and the Mayo Clinic book on Alzheimer's, and while they both have excellent information, I feel that this book is the better one for detailed information on the myriad little things that crop up with care of a loved one with Alzheimer's disease.

I have worked in pastoral ministry for well over 35 years. I have been through multiple scenarios with friends and family. I have been a secondary caregiver and primary with my mom, both my in-laws, in ministry and with many of my friend's parents. I have experienced care-giving for issues from stroke to Alzheimer diagnosis, to brain damage from a fall. And my sister is a care administrator and has dealt with aging and healthcare for years. She first introduced me to many books when I first started visiting "nursing homes" many years ago. THIS book has been the most helpful along the way. It is useful as a study text and as a pragmatic aid for caregivers. One can read the entire thing, read only select passages, or a paragraph here and there. All are helpful. I have not seen or read anything more comprehensive or helpful. And as the book suggests, as a person with dementia ages and moves along the path of dementia, it is wise to re-read over and over again as the scenarios change. Every person is different, every scenario is different. I suppose that is a reason I should not be amazed at the one star reviews. Everybody is different. I just wish they would say what they found that was better. I would certainly read it!

I purchased a earlier edition of this very helpful book on the recommendation of a friend several years ago to help understand my mother-in-law's dementia. I found it very helpful not only with her, but with aging friends and other family members as they began to have memory issues. More recently, another family member was suddenly in need of this information, so I ordered the latest edition for her and for an extended family member who was helping her to deal with a common relative with issues. We have all learned that this is not only helpful in understanding what is happening in the minds of the one with memory loss, but it is also helpful as a reference book when something comes up that is unanticipated or that is likely to be unsettling. Like the friend who recommended it to me, I highly recommend it to anyone who has a loved one, friend or family member who has Alzheimer's, dementia or other memory issues.

A wonderful gifted