Power of Attorney Project Books
We are pleased to bring greater attention to the published works of many of our guest experts. In this section, we feature authors and their books. We hope that our audience takes a look at these books to gain greater insight into specifics topics.
Late-Stage Dementia
Promoting Comfort, Compassion, and Care
The emphasis is on the special challenges that occur in those with the various stages of cognitive impairment, and how health care providers and family members struggle with making the decisions that will provide a balance between respect, dignity and comfort, as those with dementia reach the latter stages of their life.
Dr. Michael Gordon
Michael Gordon, MD, MSc, FRCPC, FACP, FRCPEdin Medical Program Director Palliative Care, Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto He is one of Canada’s best known geriatric medical specialists.
Parenting Your Parents
Straight Talk about Aging in the Family
Directed to children of aging parents and other loved ones this presentation reflects the content of the book Parenting Your Parents. Its focus is first to recognize and address the process of frailty in one’s loved one, and then taking the necessary steps for the caregiver to assure their ability to continue with this most challenging task.
Dr. Michael Gordon
Michael Gordon, MD, MSc, FRCPC, FACP, FRCPEdin Medical Program Director Palliative Care, Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto He is one of Canada’s best known geriatric medical specialists.
Willing Wisdom
7 Questions Successful Families Ask
Willing Wisdom seeks to change the perception of what a Will is and what it can be. It aims to ignite the passion in the hearts and minds of everyday people – people rich and poor – to use their Will to invest in what ought to matter most – relationships. This can happen only through trust and collaboration, as well as trust in collaboration. By engaging in conversation with intended beneficiaries about death, the potential for living life more fully and purposefully is vastly improved.
This simple idea of making one of the most secretive documents in one’s life into a collective work of art will be challenging for many. This book will convince you that it’s a risk worth taking.
Money and control, which often bring comfort in the temporal world, can be lethal and toxic for a generation heading for the exit. As they approach that day, control over money – and health-care decisions – must often be relinquished. That more than half the population will die without a Will, die without any conversation with their family and friends about their end, is symptomatic of a culture entranced and immobilized by the fear of death
Tom Deans
The idea to write Willing Wisdom came from Tom watching his mother’s parents die. One death – his grandfather’s – was comparatively quick. His grandmother’s was a long and slow ten-year decline. Despite the significant wealth his grandparents left for family and charity, it is the conversations they shared that Tom thought about the most many years later.
In the end, when it came down to their last breaths, only the care provided by Tom’s parents, not money or even the promise of money, could purchase the dignified death each experienced.
Willing Wisdom represents a return to the subject of his doctoral research, conducted in the US, Canada and the UK and first published in Charities and Government by Manchester University Press.
Caregiving With Strength
Caregiving with Strength stands out from other self-help books since it was written especially for family care providers of adults with chronic illness. It was also written for the professionals as an assisting tool in servicing them.
Awareness is raised about the loss and grief experienced and its impact while caring for a family member with chronic illness. Combining her grief expertise with her family caregiving, social work and coaching experience, Eleanor Silverberg transports readers into a personal development cocoon, offering content for reflective thought to encourage personal growth.
The elements of a strength-building regimen are presented, focusing on the grief facilitation element as it influences caregiving outcomes and is interconnected with the other strength-building elements described in the book. It also:
- Addresses the common issues that caregivers face and it raises awareness of the embedded grief. For family caregivers of adults with chronic illness and the professionals who service them.
- Provides a strength-building regimen to prevent burnout and addresses their losses/grief.
- Features an innovative approach as a coping tool for grief facilitation and personal growth.
- Taps into the grief as a powerful resource for adapting and making change.
- Offers insight for reflective thinking, tools for coping and caregiver anecdotes
About Eleanor Silverberg, BA Psych, MSW, RSW
Thanks to her strong grief background, coming from over 20 years of academic and independent study, she sees the impact of loss and grief in the circumstances that caregivers experience. This view is different from the conventional cultural views related to loss and grief. To share this view, she developed the ground-breaking 3-A Grief Approach.
Doris Inc.
A Business Approach to Caring for Your Elderly Parents
Proven strategies for finding balance in your life and career while maximizing the quality of life for an elderly person
When Shirley Roberts’ father passed away, her life and career were put on hold as the demands of caring for her elderly mother, Doris, began consuming more and more of her time and energy. Using her business prowess, Shirley, with the help of her financial advisor brother, developed Doris Inc. Using their business skills, they found ways to maintain their own lives and careers while ensuring that their mother received top-notch care. Much of their success has come from sound management practices and an original financial forecasting tool tailored for elders. In this heartfelt, beautifully written book, Shirley offers sage advice on how to cope with the emotional roller coaster of eldercare, along with proven care and financial planning strategies and tools that have worked so well for her.
- Features concrete lessons and proven strategies for handling the challenges of eldercare; making tough decisions, finding help, reducing stressful crises and planning for the high costs of eldercare
- Offers practical guidance to avoid sacrificing your own life while providing the best care for your loved ones
- Tips on confronting and planning for your own golden years to ensure that you’ll have a fulfilling life after retirement and that those who’ll be caring for you won’t be overly burdened
Shirley Roberts, MBA
Shirley Roberts is a graduate of the Ivey School of Business. She ran her own consulting firm, Market-Driven Solutions Inc., before becoming a published author and a consumer trend-spotter, whose research and advice were sought by media and large corporations. Shirley was a board member of Parkinson Society Canada from 2006-2009 and was the primary caregiver of her mother for seven years.
Let the Records Show
A Practical Guide to Power of Attorney & Estate Record Keeping
Let the Records Show offers a ten-step guide for effectively handling record-keeping obligations, and it demystifies and simplifies the terminology and related work processes associated with creating a complete and proper information trail to satisfy legal interests.
About Linda Alderson, BA, CPA, CA
The past few years have provided opportunities to become more involved with estate management, where the lack of proper record keeping has led to litigation as siblings take their siblings to court over the financial management of their parent’s affairs. Her response to this kind of work was to write a book providing information and tools to help people manage the task of looking after someone else’s money to help them stay out of litigation court. It also addresses the issues that we should all be aware of when choosing our attorney for property and estate executor.
Caring for a Husband with Dementia
The Ultimate Survival Guide
A dementia diagnosis can frighten and devastate all who are affected. When a husband is diagnosed with dementia, his wife is at risk of becoming the “hidden patient.” Sometimes the responsibilities of caring for a husband with dementia causes stress leading to caregiver burnout. Caregiving wives may feel trapped, obligated or compelled to go it alone at the expense of their own well-being. Others find many rewards in caring and give of themselves to a fault – “until death do us part.” Asking for help can be difficult for caregivers, for many reasons.
Gaining knowledge about dementia and its emotional impacts can provide comfort and improve confidence. Practical tips and solutions can offer hope in challenging situations. This survival guide and workbook is a vital companion for caregivers. You will refer to “Caring for a Husband with Dementia” often on your caregiving journey.
Angela G. Gentile, M.S.W., R.S.W
Angela G. Gentile, M.S.W., R.S.W. is a clinician and older adult specialist who has over 25 years of experience working with older adults and their families in a variety of capacities. She is currently employed as a Geriatric Mental Health Clinician.
