Changing Perceptions Changing Lives

Psychosocial Studies of the Individual's Changing Perspectives in Alzheimer's Disease

Cognitive impairment, through Alzheimer’s disease or other related forms of dementia, is a serious concern for afflicted individuals and their caregivers. Understanding patients’ mental state and combatting social stigmas are important considerations in caring for cognitively impaired individuals. Psychosocial Studies of the Individual's Changing Perspectives in Alzheimer's Disease describes programs and strategies that professional and family caregivers can implement to engage and improve the quality of life of persons suffering from cognitive impairment. Including real-world cases by international experts and a personal approach to the subject, this book is an important resource for caregivers, researchers, and families living with dementia.

Changing Life Patterns

Changing Lives

Changing Lives recounts the experiences of a dozen men on probation in Massachusetts who took classes for three months to read and talk about great works of literature. The men explored the writings of Malcolm X, Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov, amongst others. In these writings the men discovered many issues relating to their own lives, such as substance abuse, family breakdown, poverty and racism. The lessons create a safe space for reflection and earnest conversation, in which the students no longer have to bluff or be cool, guarded, or evasive. And because the classroom puts them on equal footing with authority figures - teachers, probation officers and even judges - a new social awareness begins to emerge. Changing Lives shows how reawakening moral consciousness and a fresh commitment to society is essential if probationers are not to cycle endlessly through the limbo of street life and jail time.