This manual is a resource book in care giving. It is not a prescription, it is not a nursing book and it is not the answer to every issue and problem about caring for a child, a senior or a person with special needs. It is however, a basic resource book that spells out the daily routine in caring for the child, a checklist in assessing the needs of an elderly or a person with special needs. It also outlines how to do important critical skills in looking after an individual. The best feature is not how it answers the basic care giving questions to satisfy the caregiver for a while but how it teaches the process to satisfy the caregiver for life.

If feeding patients or nursing home residents is part of your role as a health care worker, this book is for you. Jam-packed with crucial information on how to safely feed patients with swallowing problems, or dysphagia, this book is a fascinating read but it’s also a reference book you’ll want to keep close at hand.

This comprehensive guide is full of practical advice about the basics of dysphagia and dysphagia diets, potential problems associated with dehydration, tube feeding, and aspiration pneumonia, as well as the unique swallowing problems faced by people with specific diseases such as Parkinson’s.

Specifically created for use by nursing staff, certified nursing assistants (CNAs) in the United States, and personal support workers (PSWs) in Canada, this book was born out of a desire to maximize the skills of CNAs and PSWs, while making life better for people with dysphagia.

This is a must-read story for anyone who even suspects that a relative or loved one may be entering this dark tunnel toward ultimate oblivion known as Alzheimer’s. 

This book could easily be heeded as a care-giving manual in a very real sense.  Not only was an Alzheimer’s’ victim impacted here – unfortunately the care giving daughter and the close family were deeply affected also.  For them to live through these 7 years was a nightmare – not comparable anything or anyone else’s scenario.  

This story covers many years in the life of an Alzheimer’s victim, and her descent from a vital woman into madness and death.  It is the gripping telling of a sad, and in some ways, heroic tale. 

It is a hard read!  It is important work and needs to be read by many, as Alzheimer’s is an increasing specter in the now-aging population of this country.

Reading this book will give you an eyes-wide –open peek into the miss-understood world of the disease of Alzheimer’s.  You will find yourself living in the home of a caregiver, dealing with the traumas that occur during the Alzheimer’s journey on a day to day, year to year trek.

Theoretically, this book is a “can’t-put-it-down story”!

Caring For A Loved One?

•   Are you overwhelmed by the demands of caring for a loved one?
• Is your mounting “To-Do List” crushing you more each day?
• Has caregiving squeezed out friends and activities that once brought joy?
• Feeling forsaken by the lack of help and betrayed by broken promises?
• Find it difficult to ask for help?

Professionals Helpers?

• Are you a case manager, counselor, group leader for caregivers?
• Does your heart ache watching caregivers burn out?

Whether you are a caregiver for a loved one or a professional caregiver trying to help caregivers, Maya’s Model is for! When you are called—perhaps suddenly!—by fate and circumstance to be the one ultimately responsible for care and daily living needs of another person, please know that you are not alone. Family members, friends, and various agencies are approachable, helpful and often eager to help you in managing the burdens of caregiving.

Most caregivers embark on this journey with loving determination, while family members, friends, professional colleagues and even healthcare professionals fail to recognize how often caregivers become the ‘second victim’ of their loved one’s illness. “I learned this lesson as I cared for my husband through a struggle with terminal brain cancer. My professional life, personal life and health suffered as a result of the stress.

Research shows that caregiving weakens the immune system. Without adequate support caregivers deteriorate with their loved one, sometimes even faster.  But, there is hope.

Studies show that an Effective Social Support Network offers the vital protection to help caregivers thrive and survive the otherwise harrowing, and sometimes life threatening experience of caregiving.

Each caregiver and each situation is unique. Using a workshop format, the reader will move through self discovery exercises to honor his/her unique personality and preferences, developing an individualized network to support, regardless of the loved ones condition or resources. This network of support will then ebb and flow with the caregiver to meet the many challenges and changes that mark the path of caregiving. 

 This book offers simple but powerful tools to help individuals caring for a loved one or professional helpers in a group setting or individual sessions.

Caring For A Loved One?

•   Are you overwhelmed by the demands of caring for a loved one?
• Is your mounting “To-Do List” crushing you more each day?
• Has caregiving squeezed out friends and activities that once brought joy?
• Feeling forsaken by the lack of help and betrayed by broken promises?
• Find it difficult to ask for help?

Professionals Helpers?

• Are you a case manager, counselor, group leader for caregivers?
• Does your heart ache watching caregivers burn out?

Whether you are a caregiver for a loved one or a professional caregiver trying to help caregivers, Maya’s Model is for! When you are called—perhaps suddenly!—by fate and circumstance to be the one ultimately responsible for care and daily living needs of another person, please know that you are not alone. Family members, friends, and various agencies are approachable, helpful and often eager to help you in managing the burdens of caregiving.

Most caregivers embark on this journey with loving determination, while family members, friends, professional colleagues and even healthcare professionals fail to recognize how often caregivers become the ‘second victim’ of their loved one’s illness. “I learned this lesson as I cared for my husband through a struggle with terminal brain cancer. My professional life, personal life and health suffered as a result of the stress.

Research shows that caregiving weakens the immune system. Without adequate support caregivers deteriorate with their loved one, sometimes even faster.  But, there is hope.

Studies show that an Effective Social Support Network offers the vital protection to help caregivers thrive and survive the otherwise harrowing, and sometimes life threatening experience of caregiving.

Each caregiver and each situation is unique. Using a workshop format, the reader will move through self discovery exercises to honor his/her unique personality and preferences, developing an individualized network to support, regardless of the loved ones condition or resources. This network of support will then ebb and flow with the caregiver to meet the many challenges and changes that mark the path of caregiving. 

 This book offers simple but powerful tools to help individuals caring for a loved one or professional helpers in a group setting or individual sessions.

This manual is a resource book in care giving. It is not a prescription, it is not a nursing book and it is not the answer to every issue and problem about caring for a child, a senior or a person with special needs. It is however, a basic resource book that spells out the daily routine in caring for the child, a checklist in assessing the needs of an elderly or a person with special needs. It also outlines how to do important critical skills in looking after an individual. The best feature is not how it answers the basic care giving questions to satisfy the caregiver for a while but how it teaches the process to satisfy the caregiver for life.

This is a must-read story for anyone who even suspects that a relative or loved one may be entering this dark tunnel toward ultimate oblivion known as Alzheimer’s. 

This book could easily be heeded as a care-giving manual in a very real sense.  Not only was an Alzheimer’s’ victim impacted here – unfortunately the care giving daughter and the close family were deeply affected also.  For them to live through these 7 years was a nightmare – not comparable anything or anyone else’s scenario.  

This story covers many years in the life of an Alzheimer’s victim, and her descent from a vital woman into madness and death.  It is the gripping telling of a sad, and in some ways, heroic tale. 

It is a hard read!  It is important work and needs to be read by many, as Alzheimer’s is an increasing specter in the now-aging population of this country.

Reading this book will give you an eyes-wide –open peek into the miss-understood world of the disease of Alzheimer’s.  You will find yourself living in the home of a caregiver, dealing with the traumas that occur during the Alzheimer’s journey on a day to day, year to year trek.

Theoretically, this book is a “can’t-put-it-down story”!