Books for People with Dementia

This is one of the first books that people should read when dementia enters their world, whether they are the person diagnosed, a family member, a care professional, or doctor. In this wonderful book, Wendy Mitchell beautifully shares her personal experiences during the early stage of Alzheimer’s Disease. She offers an honest description of many of the tricks that the brain can play on people living with dementia. But, just as importantly, she also shares the sense of humor, determination, and ingenuity that often got her past those tricks.

She offers crucial insight into the feelings, abilities, needs, and desires of someone living with dementia, which will help people recently diagnosed feel less alone and will help care partners understand how best to support them. Dementia care relationships could be greatly improved and dementia stigma greatly reduced if everyone read, and discussed, this lovely story that the author so kindly shared!

This memoir really gives the reader an inside view of how it feels to experience neurocognitive changes and a dementia diagnosis, rather than just sharing the facts of what happened (or only sharing from the caregiver’s perspective). By letting us into his very personal and existential thoughts, Sam encourages others to begin their own unique journey toward living well with dementia while still enjoying what matters most to them.

He insightfully shares how adaptation (both by the people living the experience and those around them) can continue to offer a meaningful life that is very much worth living throughout the progression of symptoms. And, since I’ve been lucky enough to get to know this wise man through our shared “To Whom I May Concern” film project, I can assure you that it is told in his voice; making it feel like you’re sitting next to him as he shares his story with you!

I highly recommend this book for anyone searching for hope after noticing changes in themselves, either before or after a diagnosis. It also might help care partners better understand the experience of the person with cognitive changes.