Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, but it definitely shouldn’t denote it’s time to ditch your desired reading list. On the contrary, it’s probably time to build on it.
That goes especially for anyone who hasn’t yet seen a couple of dynamite books for kids about dealing with people with Alzheimer’s disease. The pair of page-turners are designed primarily with youngsters in mind, but the truth is they can be wonderful help for anyone living or working with someone with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.
The publications I’m referring to were created by professionals working in vastly different roles in the long-term care field. Ultimately, they bridge the gap between the youngest in society and the growing wave of Alzheimer’s individuals they are going to grow up amid.
Getting all strata of society more familiar with Alzheimer’s and how to deal with it is in everyone’s best interest.
Dana Ullom-Vucelich’s “I’ll Never Forget” will become unforgettable for anyone who picks up the radiantly colored tome. The chief HR officer for Ohio Living and a 2023 McKnight’s Pinnacle Awards Inspiration category honoree, Ullom-Vucelich tells a story of love that transcends generational lines.
“I’ll love you always, just as you are,” is the recurring theme — one that “every young and old heart years to hear,” the author thankfully reminds us.
“A child is born, a grandmother’s heart swells and a lasting promise begins,” is a great introduction to this relatively light and, yes, even colorful reading.
When we last heard from Ullom-Vucelich, it was in June as an authoritative panelist during a McKnight’s “Meeting of the Minds” roundtable discussion. But no mere human relations wiz is she. In fact, she drew on her studies in child development and gerontology, as well as personal experience with her mother’s journey with Alzheimer’s, to compose “I’ll Never Forget.”
The self-published book trended quickly on Amazon even before its official release on April 28 of this year, and it has maintained a steady flow of interest since. But now it’s time for caregivers nationwide to realize the full potential of having this edition in their personal and professional libraries.
Readers will take heart in a story they can identify with, and the loving message it imparts. Visitors and workers of all ages at long-term care and memory care facilities can find solace and hope among its pages.
And there just aren’t adequate words to fully credit the vibrant, uplifting images provided by artist Ros Webb found on very page. One has to hope that this Ullom-Vucelich and Webb duo won’t stop with this first, well-targeted creation.
More information can be found about “I’ll Never Forget” at www.danaullom.com or on Amazon.
Different picture, similar vision
Also available on Amazon and produced by a recent McKnight’s contributor is “What I’ve Learned About Grandma’s Memory” from Eilon Caspi, PhD.
Playing on similar themes, yet starkly different by appearance with muted two-tone imagery from illustrator Michelle Ignatowicz, this is another uplifting read.
A young girl’s grandmother lives with an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s in a nursing home, a place that relatives tell her is not worth visiting because Grandma “is no longer there.”
Nonetheless, once a week for a summer, the girl visits her grandmother, the wise loved one who was “always there for her.” As Caspi explains, with each visit, the young girl discovers another way to rekindle the special relationship and enable her grandmother to experience joy in the moment.
Caspi is a gerontologist and dementia behavior specialist who founded his own consulting company. He has written a book about worrisome dementia patient interaction and blogged about his research on resident-on-resident violence and other relationship dynamics within facilities.
The relationships he describes in “What I’ve Learned About Grandma’s Memory” will hit home with readers.
Perhaps the best observation on this warm read comes from geriatrician Allen Power, MD, the well-known author of “Dementia Beyond Drugs” and “Dementia Beyond Disease.”
“Through the wise eyes of a loving child, Eilon Caspi shows us that we can see a person living with dementia based on their capabilities, rather than their deficits,” Power notes. He calles the book “essential” for anyone’s collection.
Just like “I’ll Never Forget,” this is a story that has been described as shifting perceptions “from stigma to hope.”
For this slice of healthcare, can there be any higher praise?
James M. Berklan is McKnight’s Long-Term Care News’ Executive Editor and a Best Commentary award winner in the 2024 Neal Awards, which are given annually for the nation’s best specialized business journalism.
Opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News columns are not necessarily those of McKnight’s.
