So happy to announce that my story “You Can Get Through This” will appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Navigating Eldercare & Dementia. This is a great book that provides advice and support to caregivers for the challenges they face in providing eldercare.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Shelby Janner (512) 638-6379
Navigating Eldercare and Dementia with Support from Families Who’ve Been There
Chicken Soup for the Soul Book Is a Portable Support Group for Family Caregivers
COS COB, Conn. – Caring for elderly family members is one of the hardest jobs there is, and also one of the most rewarding. But family caregivers are operating in confusing new territory when they take on eldercare for the first time, especially if Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia are involved. Caregivers also face their own health risks as they sacrifice time for exercise and self-care, and they often feel overworked, underappreciated, and even depressed. This holds true whether their loved ones are cared for at home or in outside facilities. So a book that acts like a portable support group for family caregivers is a welcome addition to the Chicken Soup for the Soul library.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Navigating Eldercare & Dementia (June 22, 2021, 978-1-611590753, $14.95) is just what these families need. It’s filled with 101 personal revealing stories in which people who have “been there, done that” share their best advice for family caregivers. “No one is ever really prepared for this responsibility,” says Amy Newmark, the author of the book and the publisher and editor-in-chief of Chicken Soup for the Soul, who shares her own story about her 92-year-old father’s care. “Whether you’re the spouse, the grown child, or the grandchild of someone who requires eldercare, you’re probably in uncharted territory. Our aim is to help you along by sharing the wisdom that others have gleaned from the same journey.”
Readers will feel less alone and more empowered after they read the great advice shared by other families in these pages. They’ll learn how to join their loved ones with dementia in their new reality, instead of trying to correct them, and how to be patient and compassionate when interacting with someone who isn’t the same dad or mom or spouse they used to be. They’ll come away from these stories with a better understanding of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia—how they first appear, how they progress, and what the later stages are like.
Readers will find tips that really work—for dealing with tough choices such as moving elderly family members out of their long-time homes, taking away the car, hiring help, and overseeing finances. They’ll read about independent living, assisted living, and memory care residences—and how to choose the right place at the right time. They’ll learn how to care for themselves as well, with some practical strategies, because caregivers need to focus on their own health and happiness, too.
There are also plenty of encouraging stories about elderly family members finding new love, friendships, hobbies, and enjoying the freedom of fewer responsibilities. There are stories about a new kind of bonding with elderly family members—with new relationships stripped of old assumptions, roles, and even resentments. Many of the writers in this book got to know their family members in a different way during their final years, with positive results. And there’s plenty of humor, gratitude, and fun in these pages, too, because after all, it’s all about family.
ABOUT CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL
Chicken Soup for the Soul publishes the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. With well over 100 million books sold to date in the U.S. and Canada, more than 250 titles, and translations into more than 40 languages, the phrase “chicken soup for the soul” is known worldwide and is regularly referenced in pop culture. Today, 28 years after it first began sharing happiness, inspiration and hope through its books, this socially conscious company continues to publish a new title a month. It has also evolved beyond the bookstore, with a podcast, education programs, dog and cat food, licensed products, and video, television and movies through its subsidiary, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.