Home nursing and caring / Advice for caregivers Books

Book SynopsisAre you confident about caring for an older relative or understand what care support they need? Being responsible for another adult's wellbeing, can be a daunting task but it does not need to be. Looking After An Older Person provides lots of information and guides you to provide the best care and support for your relative. Looking After An Older Person also provides insight into the experience of ageing and encourages the reader to observe care from the older person's perspective. It recognises the value in working with an individual who needs care and empowering them to speak up and say what they want and feel, at this stage of their life. As pensioners enter the care system, whether in hospital or in a community setting, people's attitude towards them changes. They become classified as being vulnerable and in need of protection, when in fact they need to be respected and listened to. With experience as a Registered Nurse and Manager of an Outstanding care home, the author provides advice and helpful suggestions, to encourage sensitive conversations with older relatives and encourages one to think about their own life journey and be open with their own family.Table of ContentsPart A - Getting Older; Introduction; Caring About or For Someone; What Does It Feel Like to Be Ageing?; The Three Ages of Ageing: Knowing, Feeling and Looking; The Psychological Impact of Ageing; Part B - Social-economic Factors; Society and How We Treat the Elderly; The right Care Environment; Safeguarding; Socialisation; Part C - Activities of Daily Living; Mobility; Falls; Nutrition and Hydration; Personal Care; Sexuality; Sleeping; Dying; Dementia and Memory Loss; Part D - Support; Funding; Conclusion; Organisations that Provide Advice and Support; Notes and Questions;

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Book Synopsis"At 3am I was startled awake by the opening of the stairgate. Leaping out of bed I found Mum, clothes on over her pyjamas, grumbling she was fed up of being moved from pillar to post and was going home."When her mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Marianne Talbot decided she couldn't put her into a care home. Instead, for five years, she looked after her mum in her own home. For nearly three of those years she chronicled for the readers of Saga Magazine Online the fears and frustrations, the love and the laughter, and the tears and the traumas of caring. Now, in this heart warming book, you too can meet Marianne, Mum, and the appalling Fatcat. You will also find plenty of practical tips for caring for someone with dementia and on staying sane whilst doing so, a resources and useful contacts section and Marianne's reflections on caring from a distance, and on when caring comes to an end. Written for anyone, anywhere, who has anything to do with dementia or with caring; in reading it you will know you are not alone.Trade ReviewThis book has all the warmth, humanity and insight that made her Saga blogs such a moving and unmissable read. -- Saga Magazine health editor In this extraordinarily moving diary, one woman tells how the experience of having to care for someone with dementia almost drove her mad, yet made her life richer. Daily Mail This heartwarming, incredibly honest account of dealing with dementia is one to read. The Sun From the moment I read Marianne's first blog, I knew we had something special. Each week I laughed and cried along with her thousands of fans and marvelled at her resilience and wisdom. -- Melody Rousseau, Online Editor Saga Magazine A deeply moving story of their laughter and their pain. Daily Mail The Blog 'Keeping Mum' on the SAGA website is truly wonderful. As I read, I found myself moved to tears by the beautiful articulation and reflection evident in the author's thoughts and feelings. One can really begin to 'feel' the emotional journey and empathise with Marianne and her mother as they face numerous daily challenges. There is currently a paucity of 'real - life stories' in health literature surrounding issues of unpaid caring in the community. A book based on the Blog would make a highly valuable contribution to this topic and help raise awareness. A book would be especially beneficial to healthcare professionals and enabling them to better understand and appreciate the challenging situations encountered by many unpaid carers. -- Andy Richardson Lecturer - Faculty of Health Sciences University of Southampton Valuable suggestions on how to cope with frustrating circumstances and is peppered with useful tips on dealing with a wide variety of situations from incontinence to living wills. Nursing Standard

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Book Synopsis‘The cold reality of my gender was dawning on me. It was motherhood that forced me to understand the timeless horror of our position. The reason women had not written novels or commanded armies or banked or doctored or explored or painted at the same rate as men. The cause was not, as I had been led to believe, that women had been prevented from working. Quite the opposite: We had been doing all of the work, around the clock, for centuries.’ After her first book was published to acclaim, journalist Megan K. Stack got pregnant and quit her job to write. She pictured herself pen in hand while the baby napped, but instead found herself traumatised by a difficult birth and shell-shocked by the start of motherhood. Living abroad provided her with access to affordable domestic labour, and, sure enough, hiring a nanny gave her back the ability to work. At first, Megan thought she had little in common with the women she hired. They were important to her because they made her free. She wanted them to be happy, but she didn’t want to know the details of their lives. That didn’t work for long. When Pooja, an Indian nanny who had been absorbed into the family, disappeared one night with no explanation, Megan was forced to confront the truth: these women were not replaceable, and her life had become inextricably intertwined with theirs. She set off on a journey to find out where they really came from and to understand the global and personal implications of wages paid, services received, and emotional boundaries drawn in the home. As she writes herself: ‘Somebody should investigate. Somebody should write about all of this. But this is my life. If I investigate, I must stand for examination. If I interrogate, I’ll be the one who has to answer.’Trade Review‘Every woman who has experienced the conflicts of motherhood, or is contemplating them, should be grateful for her unflinching addition to the contemporary literature on the subject.’ -- Stephanie Merritt * The Observer *‘Megan Stack is willing to confront hard questions that so many of us flinch from: the relationships between women and the women we hire to take care of our houses and our children, to do the traditional women's work that gives “liberated women” the time to do traditional men's work. Women’s Work is a book of vivid characters, engrossing stories, shrewd insights, and uncomfortable reflections.’ -- Anne-Marie Slaughter, President & CEO of New America, and author of Unfinished Business‘Women’s Work is an incredible follow-up to Megan Stack’s celebrated book of war reportage, Every Man in This Village Is a Liar. It is a fierce and furious and darkly funny book about the costs of motherhood: the psychological costs, the costs in time and energy and spirit, and finally the costs imposed on other women, most of them also mothers, who leave their own children so they can take care of ours. I can’t think of a work that speaks more directly to our age of increasing inequality, starting with housework and child care, the oldest inequalities of all.’ -- Keith Gessen, author of A Terrible Country‘It’s gripping … admirably honest … a clear-eyed microcosm.’ -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * The Oldie *‘Women’s Work hit me where I live, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. The discomforting truths Stack reveals about caretaking and labor transcend cultural and national boundaries; this book is relevant to everyone, no matter how or where they live. Stack uses her reporting acumen to illuminate domestic workers' struggles, but also fearlessly reveals the most vulnerable details of her own life in order to make her point. The masterfulness with which she tells these intertwined stories makes this book not just a work of brilliant journalism but a work of art.’ -- Emily Gould, author of Friendship: A Novel and And the Heart Says Whatever.‘A self-critical and heartfelt narrative ... beautifully written, informative, and sometimes harrowing as she recounts the joy, fear, and exhaustion of becoming a mother. What women — and men — can learn from Stack's story is that “women's work”, in all of its complexity and construction, should not be only for women.’ STARRED REVIEW * Kirkus *‘If Karl Ove Knausgaard himself were a woman and had given birth, he might have written a book a little like Women’s Work. Megan Stack’s mastery of language and attention to detail make magic of the most quotidian aspects of life. But the subject matter here is hardly banal. Stack goes beyond her own experience of motherhood to focus on the Chinese and Indian nannies who helped her raise her children at the expense of their own. She brilliantly dissects the contradictions of motherhood by analyzing how motherly love becomes a commodity in this modern, globalized word.’ -- Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea‘Megan Stack obliterates the silence that upholds one of our greatest taboos: our universal reliance on domestic labor that women — women of colour especially — are expected to supply freely or cheaply. With journalistic rigor, Stack centres the complicated lives of women who clean our homes and care for our children, but it’s her willingness to shine a light into the dark, typically untouched corners of her own family, privilege, and ambition that makes this book soar.’ -- Angela Garbes, author of Like a Mother‘Memoirs about motherhood are exceedingly common, but Women’s Work dares to explore the labor arrangements that often make such books possible ... Stack writes sharp, pointed sentences that flash with dark insight ... ruthlessly self-aware [and] fearless.’ -- Jennifer Szalai * New York Times *‘Stack writes, unflinchingly, about what it was like for her world to shrink and her life to entwine with the lives of her hired help — who left their own kids behind in order to work in her home ... Stack’s writing is sharp and lovely, especially in the first section of the book as she deftly describes her plunge into new motherhood and year-long journey to find herself again.’ -- Erica Pearson * Minneapolis Star Tribune *‘Stack truly becomes aware of the hardships facing the women she employs: alcoholism, domestic violence, poverty. She delves into their stories with searing honesty and self-reflection … Women’s Work is a brave book, an unflinching examination of privilege and the tradeoffs all women make in the name of family.’ -- Amy Scribner * BookPage *‘Stack’s engaging style will have women everywhere nodding in recognition.’ FIVE STARS -- Robyn Douglas * Adelaide Advertiser *‘Stack, who had stints in Jerusalem, Cairo, Moscow and Beijing for the Los Angeles Times, is a natural storyteller with an eye for detail ... This is a painfully honest investigation of what kind of compromises women make by hiring other women to do the grunt work ... Stack confronts a reality that many try not to think about: Who are the women who care for my children and clean my house? ... a double-edged indictment: of those, including Stack, who exploit domestic helpers in their desire to remain relevant in work but also of the men who abdicate responsibility ... In an unflinching way, Stack pulls the curtain back on the truths of women’s lives, especially the domestic part: how women make it work.’ -- Debra Bruno * The Washington Post *‘Stack is admirably honest about her reactions and responses. Her prose is often a joy to read: sharp and full of insight.’ -- Henrietta McKervey * The Irish Times *Praise for Every Man in This Village is a Liar: ‘Every Man in This Village is a Liar is a courageous report from the front lines of the hostilities between the West and the Muslim world. Journalist Megan Stack sheds the customary pretenses of her profession to show us — with blistering eloquence and her own raw nerves laid bare — war’s impact on the non-combatants who bear the brunt of its horrors. You’ll be thinking about this book long after you turn the final page. I hope it finds a wide audience. My congratulations to Ms. Stack.’ * Jon Krakauer, author of Where Men Win Glory *Praise for Every Man in This Village is a Liar: ‘[Stack's] soaring imagery sears itself into the brain, in acute and accurate tales that should never be forgotten by the wider world, and yet always are … Anyone wishing to understand the Middle East need only look into the faces of war that Stack renders with exceptional humanity — the bombers as well as the bureaucrats, the rebels and the refugees, the victors and the victims.’ STARRED REVIEW * Booklist *Praise for Every Man in This Village is a Liar: ‘Every Man in this Village is a Liar is an electrifying book by an extraordinary foreign correspondent. Megan Stack has braved the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, decoded the secrets of Israel and Egypt. She shows us what war and terror have done to humanity in the 21st century. Read it if you have the courage to care about your country, its allies and its enemies.’ * Tim Weiner, author of Legacy of Ashes *

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive guide to holistic home care for those nursing children and adults through an illness.Caring for a sick child or relative at home can be a daunting task, especially if longer-term care is involved. Advice on the best remedies and how to structure your care can be invaluable.This book covers all aspects of general home nursing, including the arrangement of the patient''s room, meals, taking a temperature, and washing the patient. It also details numerous holistic treatments including herbal and plant remedies, baths, foot-baths, compresses and poultices. There are specific sections on pregnancy, birth, sleep, nursing the terminally ill and death.This is a comprehensive guide to holistic home care for those nursing children and adults through an illness.Trade Review'This book is written in a clear and concise style. As the title suggests, the book is for carers who are working at home and who may have no professional training in nursing. I liked especially the chapter on plant remedies which uses plain language understandable to the ordinary reader. Many useful hints are given throughout the book.'-- William Milne, New View, Spring 2006

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Book SynopsisMichelle Wyatt's mum always joked with the family that if she ever developed Alzheimer's like her own mother-Michelle's grandmother-they should put her in a home and throw away the key. When she did ultimately succumb to the disease, the choice to put her in a nursing home became the only option. During the next six years, Michelle, a well-known television producer, visited her mum often while her dad kept a daily vigil in the nursing home.What Michelle and her family discovered throughout these challenging times was that allowing themselves to see the funny side of the weird and wonderful things they witnessed while visiting her mum made a difficult journey just that little bit easier.This memoir is a light-hearted but moving account of Michelle's experience with her mum's dementia-giving us an insight in how to cope compassionately, effectively and lastingly with a disease that affects over 850,000 people in the UK alone.

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Book SynopsisSensory Stories contain just a few lines of text, and are brought to life through a selection of meaningful sensory experiences. They have been found to be highly effective in helping care for people with dementia, and can enable them to engage with their memories, life history and more, in a way that would otherwise not be possible. Despite these benefits, there is very little guidance on how to incorporate this approach in everyday care.This book looks at how sensory engagement can help someone with dementia feel safe and secure, minimise their anxieties, support their cognitive abilities, as well as other benefits. Full of practical advice, this book provides everything you need to put Sensory Stories into practice. Written at a level suitable for both family members and practitioners, this innovative book will be invaluable for anyone supporting a person with dementia.Table of Contents1. Introduction. 2. Sensory engagement and its relevance for people with dementia. 3. The benefits of sensory stimulation. 4. Sensory conversations. 5. Sensory stories. 6. Sensory support. 7. Sensory environments. 8. Sensory support for mental well being. 9. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisIn this heart-breaking, inspirational memoir, Rochelle nurses her beloved mother through a terminal brain tumour. With sensitivity and enormous emotional depth, Handle with Care provides a window into the life of a young carer.When her mum falls seriously ill, 25-year-old Rochelle decides to give up her new job and move home to become her mother's full-time carer and look after her sisters. After the initial diagnosis of a stroke gives way to one of terminal cancer, Rochelle cares for her mother through her illness - helping her as the illness makes everyday life increasingly difficult - and remaining by her side when she passes away. And then, while still grieving, Rochelle must find her way back into the world again.A moving, painfully honest account, Handle with Care is a book about the agony of loss and the transformative power of grief, as well as an emotional handbook for anyone who has lost a loved one.

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Book SynopsisMainstream educational provision for children on the autistic spectrum can be inadequate or inappropriate, and an increasing number of parents dissatisfied with the education system are looking elsewhere for an approach that will suit their children's needs. In this book parents who have chosen the home education option for their children on the autistic spectrum candidly relate their experiences: how they reached the decision to educate at home, how they set about the task, and their feelings about the issues raised by their actions.Alongside these personal accounts, Home Educating Our Autistic Spectrum Children includes a supplementary chapter on getting started with home education, written by a former advisory teacher for special needs, which offers a wealth of helpful tips and answers frequently voiced questions about teaching materials, curricula and socialisation. A separate chapter on home education and the law provides solid practical advice on legal rights and relations with the education authority.This sympathetic, readable book aims to give parents whose children are not receiving appropriate support at school the confidence to consider home education as a realistic option. The balance between true stories and practical advice ensures that this invaluable book will inspire and inform.Trade ReviewIf you are embarking on the home Education journey, or even thinking about it, we can recommend this book wholeheartedly. -- CommunicationThe diversity of accounts is refreshing, with a wide range of viewpoints and home-educating approaches. There is thought-provoking debate, throughout several chapters, on the advantages and disadvantages of 'labelling' children, and a refreshing account with a twist at the end by 'Mark's Mum' in the chapter entitled Liberated by the Label. More of the issues discussed are not exclusive to autistic spectrum children, and the book deserves much wider readership. Education professionals at all levels would do well to read this book. I would recommend this book to anyone thinking about, or working with, autistic spectrum children whether or not they plan to home-educate. -- Education NowThis is an inspiring and often very moving book which I would recommend to all parents as it covers many core issues about education, parenting and psychology. -- Home Education Advisory ServiceTable of Contents1. Introduction, Terri Dowty. 2. So What's the Problem with School? 3. Square Pegs Don't Fit Round Holes, Andrea Stephenson. 4. Home Truths, Elizabeth Pite. 5. Is This Normal? Jackie Stout. 6. But Will He Ever Speak to Me? Alan Phillips. 7. In the Real World, it's OK to be Different, Grace Carpenter. 8. An Inspiration To Us All, Karen Marsh. 9. Once a Homeschooler, Always a Homeschooler, Lise Pyles. 10. Being Himself, Anne Bedish. 11. The Difficult Child, Rachel Cohen. 12. Three Springs for a Summer, Margaret R. Paton. 13. Liberated by the Label, Mark's Mum. 14. Living Without the Label, Jan Fortune-Wood. 15. What Do I Do Next? Christine Waterman. 16. Home Education and the Law, Ian Dowty. Resources. Recommended Reading.

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Book SynopsisMartha Kennedy Hartnett is the mother of a child with Asperger's Syndrome who made the courageous choice to homeschool. Emerging from the author's personal experience, this book is a step by step account of successful home education.Choosing Home will take you into the homes of Asperger families as they journey from survival of the playground bully to making it work at home. Hartnett embraces those pertinent questions raised by parents: Will I be limiting my child's emotional and social development? How will I know if my teaching is good enough? What if I can't cope? These questions and many more are answered in this touching and insightful narrative.This is a book of hope and encouragement to all parents with an interest in homeschooling.Trade ReviewThis is a very encouraging book for anyone who doubts their ability to home educate a child with Asperger's, or who may be fearful about not being able to cope with the demands from their child 24/7. It is well worth sifting through for the wise insights and practical tips. In addition the author promotes the idea of self care for the weary parent. A nicely balanced, positive book. -- Education OtherwiseChoosing Home will empower parents with its realistic portrayal of the challenges and rewards of homeschooling a child with Aspergers. -- Home Education MagazineTable of ContentsWhat is Asperger's Syndrome? Daniel W. Rosenn and Barbara H. Rosenn. Foreword, Stephen Shore. Preface. 1. Struggling. 2. The Road Home. 3. Moving Forward. 4. Socialization. 5. Making It All Work. 6. Practical Tips. 7. Burnout. 8. Stories and Reflections. Resources.

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Book SynopsisPeople with learning disabilities are at greater risk of physical and psychiatric illness than the population at large, but their health needs are often not adequately supported. This book is a practical guide for those caring for people with learning disabilities living in community settings. It is designed to help the carers to better understand what the service users' health needs may be, how to recognise problems, and how to meet their needs. Chapter topics include physical health issues such as epilepsy, common health problems and diet and well-being; mental health issues such as dementia, depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety; and information related to common issues such as sleep and swallowing problems. The book also includes advice on screening programmes and health checks. Written in an accessible and straightforward style, this book will be an invaluable guide for anyone caring for someone with a learning disability, including social carers, health facilitators, community nurses and family carers.Trade ReviewThis handy volume provides a helpful and practical overview for carers and families alike who are keen to ensure they are meeting the physical and mental health needs of people with learning disabilities. Its accessible and open approach and the inclusion of an invaluable glossary of terms is ideal for those new to the issues but also provides useful material and signposting for those with more experience in the field. -- Steve Carnaby, Consultant Lead Clinical Psychologist with Westminster Learning Disability Partnership and Honorary Lecturer in Learning Disability at Kent University, UKThis helpful and comprehensive guide for carers and health facilitators highlights the key areas to consider in maintaining or improving the health of people with a learning disability. It covers physical and mental health issues, including the client's capacity to consent to treatment. -- Nursing StandardTable of ContentsForeword. Dr Elin Davis, Consultant Psychiatrist, Cornwall, UK. Section 1. The needs of people with learning disability. 1. About this book. 2. An introduction to learning disabilities. 3. Learning disabilities and physical health. 4. Learning disabilities and mental health. 5. Physical and mental health needs of people with Down's Syndrome. 6. Learning disability, health and the law. Section 2. Associated conditions and issues. 7. Epilepsy. 8. Sleep problems. 9. Swallowing problems. 10. Autism. Section 3. Accessing services. 11. Screening programmes. 12. Health checks. 13. When admission to psychiatric care is required. Appendix. Genetic causes of learning disability. Glossary. References.

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Book SynopsisCarers are particularly vulnerable to feeling stressed, worried and worn down by the vast demands that often come with caregiving, be they physical, psychological or emotional. Mindfulness can be enormously beneficial to carers, whether professional or voluntary, as a means of developing greater inner stability, resilience and gaining more control over their thoughts, feelings and emotions. Mindfulness is an evidence-based approach that is proven to help protect against stress, anxiety, depression and burnout.Dr Cheryl Rezek provides an accessible introduction to mindfulness, and explains how simple mindfulness practices and psychological concepts can be used to manage the day-to-day demands of caring effectively, helping caregivers to gain a greater sense of control and maintain a more positive and balanced outlook. The book includes easy-to-use and enjoyable mindfulness exercises, short enough to fit into a busy day, as well as accompanying audio tracks to support and guide the reader through these exercises. An essential read for all those involved in caring for people with acute or long-term health and mental health conditions, disabilities and other support needs, including relatives and other informal carers, adoptive parents and foster carers, as well as professional medical, health and social care staff.Trade ReviewA thorough introduction to how mindfulness can be a lifeline for carers. Providing relevant evidence and opportunities for practice, there is clear progress through the stages I witness clients experience - from debilitating stress to mindful awareness - greatly improving quality of life within challenging circumstances. -- Elizabeth Turp BACP Accredited Counsellor and author of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME: Support for Family & FriendsMindfulness for Carers addresses a subject that is both difficult and complex. Who cares for the caregiver? The author wisely answers this questions by suggesting that carers turn inward, and offers a wide variety of practical, easy to follow suggestions for practicing self-care and mindfulness. -- Sandra Scheinbaum, Ph.D., IFMCP, CHC, Director, Functional Medicine Coaching Academy, Inc.For nurses, the value of this book is the opportunity it offers to research the subject further and to explore the effect of caregivers' resilience. Carers who manage their own long-term conditions, stresses and personal demands will also find it useful. -- Nursing Older PeopleTable of ContentsIntroduction. Section 1: Mindfulness - what is it and how can it be of use to me? 1. The hustle and bustle of life. 2. What is mindfulness? 3. Proof that mindfulness helps. 4. No quick fix or magic wand. Section 2: Carer pains and strains. 5. Carers: the forgotten ones. 6. Common carer problems. 7. The stress response. 8. Seeing yourself as a whole. Section 3: How can I break the chain? 9. Living in the present. 10. A reactive mind - stop and choose. 11. Management of distress. 12. Self-care. Section 4: Staying committed brings long-term gains. 13. Setting boundaries. 14. Resistance. 15. The benefits. About the author. References.

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Book SynopsisOffers insight and comfort to individuals caring for a loved one and is useful for health care professionals. This book describes how the illness career and social meaning of cancer, dementia, HIV/AIDS, mental illness, and chemical dependence affect the caregiving experience. It provides a bibliography of various memoirs.Trade ReviewReadable and well researched... The Caregiver's Tale: Loss and Renewal in Memoirs of Family Life is a useful book. -- Delese Wear, PhD Journal of the American Medical Association A unique and useful contribution to the knowledge of the family caregiver experience... A useful educational tool. -- Nicole A. Graves Journal of Marriage and Family A unique and valuable contribution to the social work literature and offers a deeply human view of... of caregiving. -- Michelle Estile The New Social Worker Online

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Book SynopsisNow in its fifth edition, Caring for Patients from Different Cultures provides healthcare workers with a frame of reference for understanding cultural difference and sound alternatives for providing the best possible care to multicultural communities.Trade Review"A must-read book for any healthcare professional. . . . It should be in every hospital library." * Caregiver Journal *"Large urban hospitals are chaotic places, and cultural misunderstandings do not enhance the care given in them. Galanti not only reports these cases but offers insightful ways of handling the problems they illustrate." * American Anthropologist *"An excellent book to hand to medical colleagues who understand little of cultural sensitivity (and claim they have little time to learn), and it would be an important addition to any hospital library or reading room." * Disabilities Studies Quarterly *

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Book SynopsisBreastfeeding rarely conforms to the idealized Madonna and baby image seen in old artwork, now re-cast in celebrity breastfeeding photo spreads and pro-breastfeeding ad campaigns. The personal accounts in Others' Milk illustrate just how messy and challenging and unpredictable it can be - an uncomfortable reality in the contemporary context of high-stakes motherhood.Trade Review“Beautifully written, historically informed, and full of surprising stories about breastfeeding from the margins of mainstream, this book nurtures a more diverse set of breastfeeding practices and a language to speak them. It is a riveting read.” -- Alison Bartlett * author of Breastwork: Rethinking Breastfeeding * “With rich detail, Others’ Milk demonstrates how breastfeeding is a process, an identity, and a performance that is not simply about nourishing children, but one that reveals larger meanings of gender, sexuality, race, inequality—and the limiting ways we imagine bodies can and should be used.” -- Jennifer Reich * author of Fixing Families: Parents, Power, and the Child Welfare System and Calling the Shots: Why P *“With rich detail, Others’ Milk demonstrates how breastfeeding is a process, an identity, and a performance that is not simply about nourishing children, but one that reveals larger meanings of gender, sexuality, race, inequality—and the limiting ways we imagine bodies can and should be used.” -- Jennifer Reich * author of Fixing Families: Parents, Power, and the Child Welfare System and Calling the Shots: Why P *"Breastfeeding As A Spectrum Of Forms And Identities" interview with Kristin J. Wilson * "8 O'Clock Buzz," WORT *WAMC "51%" interview with Kristin J. Wilson * WAMC "51%" *Interview with Kristin J. Wilson on Jefferson Public Radio's "Jefferson Exchange" * Jefferson Public Radio, "Jefferson Exchange" *"Recommended." * Choice *Interview on KHSU's "Through the Eyes of Women" with Kristin Wilson, "Exceptional Breastfeeding" * KHSU "Through the Eyes of Women" *"Breast-feeding is a 5.5 year old isn’t creepy, it’s hilarious," by Liz Monroy * Washington Post *Radio Health Journal "Exceptional Breastfeeding" show interview with Dr. Kristin Wilson * Radio Health Journal "Exceptional Breastfeeding" show *Table of Contents1 Nursing in Public 2 Cleavages: Negotiating Challenges 3 The Mother of Invention: Persisting with Exceptional Breastfeeding 4 Milking the System: Expressing the Politics of Breastfeeding 5 Busting Binaries: Embodying Otherhood and Motherhood 6 Fluidity of the family: Making Kin 7 “Outpouring of support”: Embodied solidarity Acknowledgements Appendix References About the Author

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Book SynopsisWinner, 2016 Outstanding Publication in the Sociology of Disability, American Sociological Association, Section Disability and SocietyExamines the experiences of mothers coping with their children's invisible disabilities in the face of daunting social, economic, and political realitiesRecent years have seen an explosion in the number of children diagnosed with invisible disabilities such as ADHD, mood and conduct disorders, and high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. Whether they are viewed as biological problems in brain wiring or as results of the increasing medicalization of childhood, the burden of dealing with the day-to-day trials and complex medical and educational decisions falls almost entirely on mothers. Yet few ask how these mothers make sense of their children's troubles, and to what extent they feel responsibility or blame. Raising Generation Rx offers a groundbreaking study that situates mothers' experiences within an age of neuroTrade ReviewMother and feminist sociologist Blum takes a scholarly look at how 'mother blame' and financial difficulties add to the challenge of raising children with conditions such as ADHD, Asperger's, and autism...Parents of children with disabilities that aren't immediately obvious can benefit from reading about others in their shoes and from considering Blum's take on this important public-health issue. * Booklist *It is personal, written accessibly, and provides a substantive grounding in the political and health context it critiques. Placing the experiences of mothers and their children at the center of the issue around medicalization and disability shifts the debate and places lay experience at the core. * Gender & Society *In this detailed and insightful book, Linda Blum carefully and thoughtfully lifts the lid on the lives of 48 women who identify as mothers of children with & invisible disabilities. * Disability and Society *A valuable contribution to the national dialogue on health care and education, told through the voices of the mothers whose children's futures should be of concern to all of us. * Kirkus *An insightful portrayal on the struggles of mothers under various strains of inequality and discrimination. * Journal of Youth and Adolescence *[] [T]his is a fascinating book, a must have. Her book is grounded in sociological feminist theories of motherhood. It also discusses different experiences of mothers depending on their marital status, social class, and race. This book will certainly be of interest not only to academics, policymakers and practitioners but to parents as well. * Sociology of Health & Illness *Raising children is hard. Raising children with ADHD, Aspergers or autism is harder. Blending empathy and keen sociological analysis, Linda Blum shows how these mothers experiences vary by their socioeconomic status, marital status, race, and their childs gender, albeit in complex and often ironic ways. Highly recommended! -- Abigail Saguy,author of What's Wrong with Fat?Some 22 percent of American children today have some form of disability. In this highly important book, Linda Blum plunges us into the world of their worried mothers, deciphering labels and pills, fending off stigma, tirelessly advocating for their children. Married or alone, affluent or poor, such mothers often feel blamed and too rarely in the presence of real help. A carefully researched and deeply sensitive portrait of mothers on the Rx frontier. -- Arlie Hochschild,author of The Outsourced Self: Intimate Life in Market TimesWhile we read regularly about the Ritalin phenomenon and ADD kids, Linda Blum helps us to understand all of this from the perspective of mothers raising ADD-diagnosed children. Blum brings several unique lenses to this field of research: her critical medical sociology framework, attention to race, class and gender, and an in-depth interview approach, which gets at the complex ambivalences mothers (particularly those raising children of color) hold in relation to medicating and diagnosing their kids, and negotiating our contemporary risk culture. The result is the complex, multi-dimensional analysis that we need to balance out an increasingly hegemonic neuroscience perspective. -- Meika Loe,author of The Rise of Viagra: How the Little Blue Pill Changed Sex in AmericaTable of ContentsContents List of Tables vi Acknowledgments vii 1. Mother-Child Troubles, Past and Present 1 2. "Welcome to Your Child's Brain": Mothers Managing Dense 35 Bureaucracies, Medications, and Stigma 3. "The Multimillion-Dollar Child": Raising Kids with Invisible 90 Disabilities in the Context of Privilege 4. "I Think I Have to Advocate Five Thousand Times Harder!": 137 Single Mothers in the Age of Neuroscience 5. En-gendering the Medicalized Child 176 6. "A Strange Coincidence": Race-ing Disordered Children 210 7. Mothers, Children, and Families in a Precarious Time 237 Notes 257 References 285 Index 303 About the Author 311

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewMother and feminist sociologist Blum takes a scholarly look at how 'mother blame' and financial difficulties add to the challenge of raising children with conditions such as ADHD, Asperger's, and autism...Parents of children with disabilities that aren't immediately obvious can benefit from reading about others in their shoes and from considering Blum's take on this important public-health issue. * Booklist *It is personal, written accessibly, and provides a substantive grounding in the political and health context it critiques. Placing the experiences of mothers and their children at the center of the issue around medicalization and disability shifts the debate and places lay experience at the core. * Gender & Society *In this detailed and insightful book, Linda Blum carefully and thoughtfully lifts the lid on the lives of 48 women who identify as mothers of children with & invisible disabilities. * Disability and Society *A valuable contribution to the national dialogue on health care and education, told through the voices of the mothers whose children's futures should be of concern to all of us. * Kirkus *An insightful portrayal on the struggles of mothers under various strains of inequality and discrimination. * Journal of Youth and Adolescence *[] [T]his is a fascinating book, a must have. Her book is grounded in sociological feminist theories of motherhood. It also discusses different experiences of mothers depending on their marital status, social class, and race. This book will certainly be of interest not only to academics, policymakers and practitioners but to parents as well. * Sociology of Health & Illness *Raising children is hard. Raising children with ADHD, Aspergers or autism is harder. Blending empathy and keen sociological analysis, Linda Blum shows how these mothers experiences vary by their socioeconomic status, marital status, race, and their childs gender, albeit in complex and often ironic ways. Highly recommended! -- Abigail Saguy,author of What's Wrong with Fat?Some 22 percent of American children today have some form of disability. In this highly important book, Linda Blum plunges us into the world of their worried mothers, deciphering labels and pills, fending off stigma, tirelessly advocating for their children. Married or alone, affluent or poor, such mothers often feel blamed and too rarely in the presence of real help. A carefully researched and deeply sensitive portrait of mothers on the Rx frontier. -- Arlie Hochschild,author of The Outsourced Self: Intimate Life in Market TimesWhile we read regularly about the Ritalin phenomenon and ADD kids, Linda Blum helps us to understand all of this from the perspective of mothers raising ADD-diagnosed children. Blum brings several unique lenses to this field of research: her critical medical sociology framework, attention to race, class and gender, and an in-depth interview approach, which gets at the complex ambivalences mothers (particularly those raising children of color) hold in relation to medicating and diagnosing their kids, and negotiating our contemporary risk culture. The result is the complex, multi-dimensional analysis that we need to balance out an increasingly hegemonic neuroscience perspective. -- Meika Loe,author of The Rise of Viagra: How the Little Blue Pill Changed Sex in AmericaTable of ContentsContents List of Tables vi Acknowledgments vii 1. Mother-Child Troubles, Past and Present 1 2. "Welcome to Your Child's Brain": Mothers Managing Dense 35 Bureaucracies, Medications, and Stigma 3. "The Multimillion-Dollar Child": Raising Kids with Invisible 90 Disabilities in the Context of Privilege 4. "I Think I Have to Advocate Five Thousand Times Harder!": 137 Single Mothers in the Age of Neuroscience 5. En-gendering the Medicalized Child 176 6. "A Strange Coincidence": Race-ing Disordered Children 210 7. Mothers, Children, and Families in a Precarious Time 237 Notes 257 References 285 Index 303 About the Author 311

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Book SynopsisMixing personal history, interviewee voices, and academic theory from the fields of care work, the sociology of work, medical sociology, and nursing, Taking Care of Our Own introduces us to the hidden world of family caregivers. Using a multidimensional approach, Sherry N. Mong seeks to understand and analyze the types of skilled work that family caregivers do, the processes through which they learn and negotiate new skills, and the meanings that both caregivers and nurses attach to their care work.Taking Care of Our Own is based on sixty-two in-depth interviews with family caregivers, home and community health care nurses, and other expert observers to provide a lens through which in-home care processes are analyzed, while also exploring how caregivers learn necessary procedures. Further, Mong examines the emotional labor of caregiving, as well as the identities of caregivers and nurses who are key players in the labor process, and gives attention to the ways iTrade ReviewMong's goal is to enlighten and provide an in-depth understanding of the skilled work of family care givers to help us recognize our interdependency. Recommended. All levels. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: The Work of Skilled Family Caregiving 1. The Work Caregivers Do 2. On-the-Job Training 3. Who Pays? Part II: Relationships, Identities, and Emotions in Skilled Family Care Work 4. ntegrating Care Work with Life 5. "You Do What You Gotta Do" 6. Work Shifts Conclusion

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Book SynopsisMixing personal history, interviewee voices, and academic theory from the fields of care work, the sociology of work, medical sociology, and nursing, Taking Care of Our Own introduces us to the hidden world of family caregivers. Using a multidimensional approach, Sherry N. Mong seeks to understand and analyze the types of skilled work that family caregivers do, the processes through which they learn and negotiate new skills, and the meanings that both caregivers and nurses attach to their care work.Taking Care of Our Own is based on sixty-two in-depth interviews with family caregivers, home and community health care nurses, and other expert observers to provide a lens through which in-home care processes are analyzed, while also exploring how caregivers learn necessary procedures. Further, Mong examines the emotional labor of caregiving, as well as the identities of caregivers and nurses who are key players in the labor process, and gives attention to the ways iTrade ReviewMong's goal is to enlighten and provide an in-depth understanding of the skilled work of family care givers to help us recognize our interdependency. Recommended. All levels. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: The Work of Skilled Family Caregiving 1. The Work Caregivers Do 2. On-the-Job Training 3. Who Pays? Part II: Relationships, Identities, and Emotions in Skilled Family Care Work 4. ntegrating Care Work with Life 5. "You Do What You Gotta Do" 6. Work Shifts Conclusion

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Book SynopsisOne mother’s fight to support her son and change a broken system In his early twenties, Mindy Greiling’s son, Jim, was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder after experiencing delusions that demanded he kill his mother. At the time, and for more than a decade after, Greiling was a Minnesota state legislator who struggled, along with her husband, to navigate and improve the state’s inadequate mental health system. Fix What You Can is an illuminating and frank account of caring for a person with a mental illness, told by a parent and advocate. Greiling describes challenges shared by many families, ranging from the practical (medication compliance, housing, employment) to the heartbreaking—suicide attempts, victimization, and illicit drug use. Greiling confronts the reality that some people with serious mental illness may be dangerous and reminds us that medication works—if taken. The book chronicles her efforts to pass legislation to address problems in the mental health system, including obstacles to parental access to information and insufficient funding for care and research. It also recounts Greiling’s painful memories of her grandmother, who was confined in an institution for twenty-three years—recollections that strengthen her determination that Jim’s treatment be more humane. Written with her son’s cooperation, Fix What You Can offers hard-won perspective, practical advice, and useful resources through a brave and personal story that takes the long view of what success means when coping with mental illness. Trade Review"An honest, gut-wrenching, heartbreaking story of the impact of a serious mental illness on an individual and their family. The book grapples with the tough subject of how to support and protect your son when he is symptomatic and vulnerable and yet live your life and promote independence and consequences for your son. Her story also underlines the importance of connecting with those who are traveling a similar journey, such as through NAMI, and the important role legislators have in building and improving our mental health."—Sue Abderholden, executive director, NAMI Minnesota"A searing, honest, chilling, and heartbreaking narrative. As an indictment of our ‘broken’ mental health system, it works. Sadly, the system isn’t broken because it was never built. After we closed the mental hospitals, we never built a system to replace them."—Megan R. Gunnar, University of Minnesota"Mindy Greiling’s riveting account pays tribute both to a mother’s inexhaustible love for a son diagnosed with schizophrenia and to the barriers families face as they struggle to help a loved one ravaged by the worst of mental disorders. Although deeply personal, Fix What You Can tells a much broader story as it exposes the difficulties families experience right now all across America. I have read hundreds of books written by parents about mental illnesses, and this one ranks among the best. This book is a well-written godsend for parents and those they love."—Pete Earley, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist Crazy: A Father’s Search through America’s Mental Health Madness"Mindy Greiling has written a very useful book about her son’s schizophrenia and substance abuse. Her descriptions of the raw reality of this all-too-common combination are among the best. She demonstrates how complicated it is for families to get adequate psychiatric care for their loved ones, and she uses her political position as a prominent state legislator to change Minnesota’s laws regarding the treatment of serious mental illness. I strongly recommend this book."—E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., author of Surviving Schizophrenia "Mindy Greiling’s passionate support for mental health has turned Minnesota into a national leader on the issue."—St. Paul Pioneer Press "Fix What You Can offers readers deeper understanding of mental illness’ toll and a keener sense that society can do better by those afflicted. Putting this book in citizens’ hands is in keeping with Greiling’s long career of public service—and if it is that career’s capstone, it’s a worthy one."—Star Tribune "Fix What You Can is a memoir that will offer hope, inspiration, and emotional resonance for parents, mental health professionals and lay readers who want to support affected families and friends."—Access Press "One of the most powerful, painful and, ultimately, valuable books I’ve ever read."—Joe Nathan, Elk River Star News "Greiling's book beautifully and painfully spells out the many attempts that she and her husband, Roger, made to get Jim help, as well as the numerous frustrating roadblocks they encountered." —Minnesota Alumni MagazineTable of ContentsContentsOur StoryProloguePart I1. The Call2. Alarm Bells3. Bum4. Psych Ward Silence5. Sharing the News6. Frustration Inspires Legislation7. Allies in Empathy and Action8. Angela Visits9. Advice from a Prisoner10. The Third Rail11. One of Them12. Early Intervention13. Tasks Unlimited14. Debating the Governor15. “This Bill Will Save Lives”16. Mind Over Fat17. Jim Is Amazing18. The Depths of DelusionPart II19. Vulnerable Adult20. Mother’s Day Turmoil21. Really Bad News22. ACT23. Celebrating in Mental Health Court24. The Risk of Hospitality25. Colleen26. A Better Job27. One Very Lucky Young Man28. Care Meeting Chaos29. Deny, Enable, Repeat30. Jail Instead of the Caucus31. Escape to Puerto Vallarta32. Relapse and Roses33. Treat to Street34. Where Will Jim Live?35. Hope in the Shadows36. Home, for NowEpilogueResources

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