An International Honor!

Today, we are tooting our own horn. We are so honored that our book, The Caregiver’s Guide to Lewy Body Dementia, has received international recognition: It has been included in the Caregiver Homes list of The Best Dementia Books: 50 Essential Reads For Anyone Coping With Alzheimer’s Disease Or Dementia. Caring Homes, located in the UK, has been providing direct support to family caregivers caring for patients with complex or chronic diseases for almost two decades. Criteria for inclusion in their list included:

• Being on best seller lists. The Guide has been Amazon’s bestselling book about Lewy body dementia since 2011.
• Earned high ratings by readers: The Guide has 125 five-star reviews and counting on Amazon alone.
• Won awards. The guide received a Caregiver Friendly Award from Today’s Caregiver Magazine in 2012. It has also been named “Book of the Week” twice by Alzheimer’s Weekly and Dementia Weekly and is a featured book in the Colorado Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association’s list of recommended books.
• Written by experts. Nope. Neither Helen nor James were experts when they wrote the book, but their experience and research since then definitely qualifies them as “Dementia Caregiver Advocates” now.
• Written by loved ones who shared insights into supporting and caring for someone with dementia: James shares his story of going through the Lewy body journey with his first wife, Annie in the late 1990’s, early 2000’s, when little was known about the disorder. Helen includes some stories about caring for her sister with late stage Parkinson’s. However, this book is not just about them. It is a go-to book illustrated by stories from many caregivers besides the Whitworths.

Since the Guide was written, we (Helen and James Whitworth) have written three more books and are working on a third. All of our books are written in our signature style, with well-researched, fact-filled but easy-to-read language illustrated by many caregiver stories. All of these book (except the one yet to be published) are available on Amazon, and on our website, LBDtools.com.

• Riding a Roller Coaster with Lewy Body Dementia was actually their first book, written for staff. This book has been updated and republished. It has been used as a book accompanying trainings that we have presented and can be bought on Amazon. It makes a great gift to give to your in-home helper or to a residential staff member.
• Managing Cognitive Issues of Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson’s is about the early symptoms of LBD and the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s and how to deal with them, using a variety of non-drug options to limit the use of drugs themselves.
• On the Road with the Whitworths. This is a hilarious memoir of our first year of RVing and teaching about LBD in Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington. A great book to read just for fun when you need a break from caregiving!
• Unpublished: (working title: Dealing with the Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Lewy Body and Other Dementias.) This book walks the reader through the way dementia changes the brain and causes behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Then using this information, the book offers methods for dealing with these BPSD using more effective interactions, non-drug options and fewer drugs. Should be out by early 2018.

We also maintain this blog and our website LBDtools.com.  Our blog entries have been limited this summer while we enjoyed our travels but look for weekly blogs entries starting in October.

Helen and James Whitworth are not doctors, lawyers or social workers. As informed caregivers, they share the information here for educational purposes only. It should never be used instead of a professional's advice.