Jitka M. Zgola – författare

Doing Things shows how to provide a positive environment for persons with Alzheimer's disease by offering opportunities for social interaction and constructive, enjoyable activities. Zgola outlines the ways in which a patient's functional impairment can be assessed; the strengths, weaknesses, and needs most commonly encountered among persons with Alzheimer's disease; and ways activities can be tailored to accommodate them. She offers step-by-step instructions for selecting and presenting appropriate activities and includes cooking and crafts projects, a sample exercise routine, and a sample daily schedule. The techniques she describes are designed to promote a sense of security and self-esteem, by avoiding possible sources of confusion or confrontation. Based on the highly successful program developed at one day-care facility for persons with dementia, Doing Things offers an invaluable guide for professionals and volunteers supervising activities at day-care centers and extended-care facilities-as well as for individuals who are caring for patients at home. Throughout, Zgola's emphasis is on treating persons who have Alzheimer's disease with empathy, courtesy, and dignity.

In her widely acclaimed Doing Things, Jitka M. Zgola offered practical and much-needed advice for those caring for persons with Alzheimer disease. Now, in Care That Works, Zgola shows how caregivers can better meet the demanding challenges of their job by building and improving their personal relationships with those in their care. Instead of simply prescribing approaches, Care That Works gives caregivers the information with which they can develop their own approaches, evaluate their effectiveness, and continue to grow in skill and insight. Zgola explains that optimal dementia care involves three elements: a good relationship between the caregiver and the person who has dementia, a safe and nurturing environment, and meaningful activities. Evident throughout the book is Zgola's gift for compassionately portraying the difficulties faced by people with dementia and then suggesting ways to act in a manner that accords such people the respect and dignity they deserve. Topics that receive special attention include communicating with persons who have language deficits and coping with problem behaviors-two critical problems in dementia care.