Touch the Spirit: Connecting to the Inner World of Dementia - Paperback

by Deborah A. Forrest Ph. D. (Author)

Do you have a husband, wife, partner, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, parent, grandparent or patient who is suffering from some form of dementia? Would you like to know how to stay connected to them on a deep spiritual level? Dr. Forrest shows you how to do this in her newest book "Touch the Spirit". In it she details many different ways to open a window into the memory banks of a person with dementia by tapping into that person's long-forgotten passions in life. As a family member, friend or caregiver, Forrest shows you how to enjoy a meaningful connection to someone living with dementia. Some of the medical conditions covered include Alzheimer's disease, FTL dementia, Lewy Body dementia, Parkinson's disease, strokes, chemo-brain, open-heart surgery induced dementia, HIV/AIDS, and dementia brought on by a traumatic brain injury or some type of sports-related injury. "Touch the Spirit" offers unique pathways to the creation of what many describe as wondrous connections to a person with dementia. Through the use of personal stories from family members, friends and caregivers of persons with dementia, Forrest shows how the use of simple things in one's everyday life can produce remarkable results. Her stories are also laced with some of the most up to date research and latest information from the fields of aging, spirituality. and medicine. Knowing how difficult the process of aging can be, especially when mixed with dementia, Forrest believes that "Touch the Spirit" offers family members, friends and caregivers effective opportunities to connect to the person with a dementia condition, even when they seem lost or no longer there. Her latest work offers a new message of inspiration and hope.

Author Biography

Deborah Forrest, Ph.D. was born in the mid-twentieth century in East Tennessee to older parents. Her young life was informed by a world of white-headed elders who were fond of imparting choice words of wisdom gleaned from life experiences that occurred to them in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For twenty-four years she worked a Registered Nurse and an International Biomedical Laser Plume Research expert. In 1995 she completed her doctoral degree in clinical health psychology and began working in the fields of aging and spirituality. In 2002 her ground-breaking book "Symphony of Spirits: Encounters with the Spiritual Dimensions of Alzheimer's" became an international best seller. Her latest book "Touch the Spirit: Connecting to the Inner World of Dementia" moves beyond discussions about dementia of the Alzheimer's type to include stories of persons with dementias created by other medical conditions like Pike's disease, Fronto-temporal Lobe dementia, multi-infarct dementia and various types of traumatic brain injuries. In it, Forrest also bravely opens a window into the future to show us how dementia in the 21st Century will impact our lives in the coming years.