The Best Friends Approach to Dementia Care

by Virginia Bell

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Author: Virginia Bell

Publisher: Health Professions Press

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 9781932529968
ISBN 13: 978-1932529968

Successfully implement this relationship-centered approach to dementia care that builds on the essential elements of friendship―respect, empathy, support, trust, and humor. For decades the acclaimed Best Friends™ approach has been widely recognized for helping people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias experience meaningful engagement and dignity in all aspects of their lives. In this completely revised and expanded second edition, care partners learn how to apply the core principles of the approach through practical tips and instructive examples of Best Friends in action. An all-new section also provides a roadmap for creating and sustaining a Best Friends program. Become familiar with: The building blocks of the approach, including the Dementia Bill of Rights and the concept of relationship-centered care The core tenets of Best Friends: the Life Story, skilled communication, and caregiving Knack New approaches to minimizing challenging behaviors and to creating activities that produce true engagement How to use Best Friends in a variety of care settings Effective ways to involve families and volunteers An approach that’s embraced around the world! Make each day reassuring, enjoyable, and secure for the people in your care with this simple, compassionate approach to dementia care.

Review

"The Best Friends Approach, Second Edition, is a joy to read. It touched my heart. At the same time, it was practical, offering clear ways to implement all aspects of this extraordinary program. Being a Best Friend is so uncomplicated when you understand that this simply means you know the perperson’s Life Story and the importance of the process for providing care, not just how to complete the task. This book should be “must reading” for care partners, both professional and family. So often, friends are not prepared to continue a relationship with someone with progressive memory loss, and sharing this book with them will help “old friends” continue to be Best Friends. Living with memory loss can be a very frightening journey, but when surrounded by Best Friends who help you continue to engage in life and continue to remind you that you are a very special person, the journey is not quite so frightening, and can still have many moments of joy. (Western Sydney University Reviews 2016-08-15)

“Best Friends™ is helping to establish ourselves as a center of excellence in dementia care throughout our region.” (Moorings Park, Florida Reviews 2016-08-22)

“Every Wednesday afternoon for the last 31 years, a person with dementia and I have been Best Friends at our amazing adult day program. Virginia and David’s approach has helped me feel blessed over and over as I’ve forged so many friendships. And the program really works, attracting volunteers and building a fantastic day of activities and engagement. Our day center participants, I hope, have felt known, loved, and valued as have I.” (Best Friends Day Center, Lexington, KY Reviews 2016-08-22)

“The Best Friends Approach has been our guide to help understand the huge impact we can have on the lives of persons living with dementia. Being present and accepting their reality is life affirming, not only for the person but also the family and staff. Virginia and David have changed the history of dementia care in our country since Best Friends will be included in the Dementia Strategy of Hungary!” (Máriaremete Nursing Home, Budapest, Hungary Reviews 2016-08-22)

“Two decades ago, Bell and Troxel’s Best Friends™ approach affirmed the primary importance of relationship in supporting well-being for people living with dementia. It is great to see this thoughtful update of a classic and time-honored model for engagement and care.” (Board-certified geriatictian, dementia advocate, and author Reviews 2016-08-22)

“The Best Friends books have become our go-to resource for ideas and inspirations about quality dementia care. This new edition raises the bar as it challenges us to develop authentic relationships, meaningful activities, and create outstanding programs.” (Prestige Senior Living, Vancouver, WA Reviews 2016-08-22)

“Think of the penetrating, dense isolation of the dwarf planet Pluto. It parallels the chilling isolation of dementia―engulfing feelings of loneliness, loss of self, fears that you have not a friend in the world. I know the landscape well. Virginia Bell and David Troxel, in their inspiring book, The Best Friends™ Approach to Dementia Care, have shown me the way home, and given me new confidence that I am not alone, that I don’t have to fight Alzheimer’s myself; that I just have to learn to dance with it. Bell and Troxel are partners who can lead.” (Book: On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s Reviews 2016-08-22)

“The Best Friends philosophy is perfect for home care settings and beautifully supports the Home Instead Senior Care® network’s To Us, It’s Personal® philosophy. Professional caregivers embracing this approach spend time with the client enjoying old family scrapbooks, gardening, walking to a neighborhood park and engaging in meaningful connection and conversation. The result is a win-win for all involved. The person with dementia benefits from this loving approach and the professions caregivers, including our network’s CAREGivers?, can help manage the challenges of dementia with wisdom and creativity.” (Home Instead, Inc. Reviews 2016-08-22)

“Troxel and Bell’s deeply encouraging, effective, and enduring methods have improved the quality of life for people with dementia around the globe through the universal foundation of friendship. Their respectful, affirming, and applied wisdom transforms that act of caregiving into the art of care-partnering and I heartily recommend this bright gem of a book to anyone needing a light along the dementia path.” (University of California San Diego Reviews 2016-08-22)

“The Best Friends philosophy has changed the face of dementia over the last two decades leading the way to honoring the person’s journey, creating a rich and worthwhile life, and supporting family and professional care partners with education and expanded services. This new edition of Best Friends will teach you everything you thought you already knew.” (Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado Reviews 2016-08-22)

About the Author

Virginia Bell has lectured widely on Alzheimer's disease at national and international conferences, speaking at 12 National Education Conferences of the Alzheimer's Association and lecturing at 18 conferences of Alzheimer's Disease International. Sheâ??s published journal articles and books, notably in Dementia Care: Patient, Family and Community (John Hopkins, 1989). Many of her articles have been reprinted numerous times: "The Alzheimer's Disease Bill of Rights" (1994), "The other Face of Alzheimer's Disease" (1999) and "Spirituality and the Person with Dementia" (2001), co-authored with David Troxel and published in the American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and in the Alzheimer's Care Quarterly. She has also co-authored five books with David Troxel. Virginia is currently the Program Consultant for the Greater Kentucky and Southern Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.

David Troxel is an internationally known expert in Alzheimerâ??s and memory care. Heâ??s best known for his work with residents and families, and is an informative and engaging speaker. David holds a Masters Degree in Public Health from Rutgers Medical School. During the 25 years that heâ??s worked in the field, heâ??s also served as an Executive Board member of the American Public Health Association and the Ethics Advisory Panel for the US National Alzheimerâ??s Association. David has co-authored four influential books (most notably, The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimerâ??s Care) on Alzheimerâ??s relating to the disease care as well as staff development and training. Davidâ??s â??Best Friends Approachâ? is built on a seemingly simple premise: that what people living with memory loss need most is a friend â?? a best friend. David teaches caregivers how to understand and fulfill this â??Best Friendsâ? role, including special caregiving techniques and tools. He lives in Sacramento as a writer, speaker and consultant.