More than 5 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease or a related form of dementia. By the year 2030, experts estimate that as many as 66 million people around the world will be faced with this life-altering disease. Unfortunately, these staggering statistics impact millions of caregivers, too. Compared with all types of caregivers, those who assist someone with dementia experience the highest levels of burnout, depression, poor health, and premature death. A Dignified Life, Revised and Expanded offers hope and help with a proven approach. Ten years ago, the first edition of A Dignified Life changed the way the caregiving community approached Alzheimer's disease by showing caregivers how to act as a Best Friend to the person, finding positive ways to interact even as mental abilities declined. Firmly grounded in the latest knowledge about the progression and treatment of dementia, this expanded edition offers a wealth of immediately usable tips and new problem-solving advice. It incorporates practical ideas for therapeutic activities—including the latest brain-fitness exercises—stimulate the brain while adding structure, meaning, and context to daily routines. With new stories and examples as well as an updated resources section, A Dignified Life, Revised and Expanded gives caregivers the support and advice they need to be successful and inspired in their demanding roles. While medical treatment of the disease hasn't changed in the past ten years, our understanding and awareness of treating people in a more caring way has changed substantially. With no cure on the immediate horizon, respectful care by effective and compassionate care partners is the only real "treatment" available to people with dementia. The Best FriendsTM Approach is successful because it sustains people's connection to their world, their loved ones, and themselves. It's a universal program which has been embraced by professional and family caregivers throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. In its revised form, A Dignified Life offers caregivers an antidote to the burnout and frustration that often accompanies the role of caring for a person with Alzheimer's and dementia. Rather than struggling through a series of frustrations and failures, A Dignified Life shows the new generation care partners how to bring dignity, meaning, and peace of mind to the lives of both those who have Alzheimer's and dementia and those who care for them.

More than 5 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer's disease or a related form of dementia. By the year 2030, experts estimate that as many as 66 million people around the world will be faced with this life-altering disease. Unfortunately, these staggering statistics impact millions of caregivers, too. Compared with all types of caregivers, those who assist someone with dementia experience the highest levels of burnout, depression, poor health, and premature death. A Dignified Life, Revised and Expanded offers hope and help with a proven approach. Ten years ago, the first edition of A Dignified Life changed the way the caregiving community approached Alzheimer's disease by showing caregivers how to act as a Best Friend to the person, finding positive ways to interact even as mental abilities declined. Firmly grounded in the latest knowledge about the progression and treatment of dementia, this expanded edition offers a wealth of immediately usable tips and new problem-solving advice. It incorporates practical ideas for therapeutic activities--including the latest brain-fitness exercises--stimulate the brain while adding structure, meaning, and context to daily routines. With new stories and examples as well as an updated resources section, A Dignified Life, Revised and Expanded gives caregivers the support and advice they need to be successful and inspired in their demanding roles. While medical treatment of the disease hasn't changed in the past ten years, our understanding and awareness of treating people in a more caring way has changed substantially. With no cure on the immediate horizon, respectful care by effective and compassionate care partners is the only real "treatment" available to people with dementia. The Best Friends(tm) Approach is successful because it sustains people's connection to their world, their loved ones, and themselves. It's a universal program which has been embraced by professional and family caregivers throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. In its revised form, A Dignified Life offers caregivers an antidote to the burnout and frustration that often accompanies the role of caring for a person with Alzheimer's and dementia. Rather than struggling through a series of frustrations and failures, A Dignified Life shows the new generation care partners how to bring dignity, meaning, and peace of mind to the lives of both those who have Alzheimer's and dementia and those who care for them.

This examination of the implications and regulation of autonomous weapons systems combines contributions from law, robotics and philosophy.

The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer's Care shows how easily you can make a difference in the life of a family member or client in your care. Here's the help you've been looking for: families will gain a renewed sense of hope, nursing facility staff will find simple applications for resident care, adult day center staff can enrich programming and attract more volunteers, and individuals with emerging Alzheimer's disease will gain valuable insights. Learn new ways to solve problems, encourage positive behavior, and improve communications. Make every day consistently reassuring, enjoyable, and secure.

Dignity is humanitys most prized possession. We experience the loss of dignity as a terrible humiliation: when we lose our dignity we feel deprived of something without which life no longer seems worth living. But what exactly is this trait that we value so highly? In this important new book, distinguished philosopher Peter Bieri looks afresh at the notion of human dignity. In contrast to most traditional views, he argues that dignity is not an innate quality of human beings or a right that we possess by virtue of being human. Rather, dignity is a certain way to lead ones life. It is a pattern of thought, experience and action in other words, a way of living. In Bieris account, there are three key dimensions to dignity as a way of living. The first is the way I am treated by others: they can treat me in a way that leaves my dignity intact or they can destroy my dignity. The second dimension concerns the way that I treat other people: do I treat them in a way that allows me to live a dignified life? The third dimension concerns the view that I have of myself: which ways of seeing and treating myself allow me to maintain a sense of dignity? In the actual flow of day-to-day life these three dimensions of dignity are often interwoven, and this accounts in part for the complexity of the situations and experiences in which our dignity is at stake. So, why did we invent dignity and what role does it play in our lives? As thinking and acting beings, our lives are fragile and constantly under threat. A dignified way of living, argues Bieri, is humanitys way of coping with this threat. In our constantly endangered lives, it is important to stand our ground with confidence. Thus a dignified way of living is not any way of living: it is a particular way of responding to the existential experience of being under threat. It is also a particular way of answering the question: What kind of life do we wish to live? This beautifully written reflection on our most cherished human value will be of interest to a wide readership.

This volume gathers the contributions of leading researchers in the fields of bioethics, medical law and human rights. By providing an interdisciplinary reading of advance directives regulation against the background of European and International law, this book aims to offer new insights into the most controversial legal issues surrounding the theme of dignity and autonomy at the end of life. Cross-cultural perspectives from Europe, the Americas, Australia and China offer a comparative analysis of legal approaches to end-of-life decision-making and care, including the hotly debated issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide, also giving an account of recent developments in domestic legislation and jurisprudence. Special focus is placed on the Italian legal system and its ongoing discussion on advance directives regulation.

A timely and provocative essay about the parallel lives of Rosa Luxemburg and Hannah Arendt and their mission for a more humane society “An intimate and timely meditation on dark times, Hermsen’s illuminating essay offers readers a way to think with Hannah Arendt and Rosa Luxemburg about how to build a more humane world in common.”—Samantha Rose Hill, author of Hannah Arendt Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) and Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) were critical Jewish mavericks who both suffered under violent political regimes and sought to reform systems of power. Although temporally separated by the Second World War and the rise of totalitarianism, they held in common strikingly similar convictions about freedom, human dignity, capitalism, democracy, and political commitment. In this powerful book, Joke J. Hermsen explores the lives and works of these two remarkable thinkers and the essential hope that emboldened them in the political struggle. Luxemburg and Arendt were spurred on by a restless love for the world and an unwavering belief in the possibility of new beginnings; for them, hope was an absolute prerequisite of resistance and a counterpoint to melancholy—a defense against despair that kept them attuned to what could be. Exploring the intertwined nature of philosophy and the active pursuit of justice, this is an urgent, courageous reminder to remain alert to the glimmers of hope in dark times.

2011 AJN Book of the Year Winner in both Gerontologic Nursing and Hospice and Palliative Care! "The book is easy to read and is essential to all who work and care for those at the end of life." --David Shields, RN, MSN, QTTT Assistant Professor of Nursing Capital University "The book is thought provoking and, if you are like me, you will be assessing (consciously or subconsciously) how good you or your service are at providing holistic care around the time of death. It deserves to be widely read and I hope it starts many a conversation." IAHPC Newsletter "[This book] is a gem. It is a rare balance of an interesting read with an incredible integration of factual information. I intend to share it in my long term care circles...A wonderful contribution!" Charlotte Eliopoulos,RN, MPH, PhD Executive Director American Association for Long Term Care Nursing "Every once in a long while a short, succinct book comes along that awakens our senses and motivates us to action. [This] is one such book. It cuts right to the chase to offer a new, innovative change for an old, outmoded rite of passage." Barbara Dossey, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, FAAN Co-Director, Nightingale Initiative for Global Health, Canada and Virginia Director, Holistic Nursing Consultants, New Mexico (From the Foreword) This professional clinical guide presents nursing administrators and nurses in acute care agencies, nursing homes, hospice, and palliative care settings with detailed implementation strategies for accommodating dying persons and their loved ones as they make the transition from physical life. It presents the need for and the development of the concept: Golden Room concept: a place for dying that facilitates a dignified, peaceful, and profound experience for dying persons and their loved ones. This book presents a practical solution on multiple levels that will benefit all involved-patient, family, nurses, administrators, policy makers, and insurance companies. It presents the theoretical frameworks for end-of-life care and how the Golden Room concept fits into these frameworks. Published in partnership with the Watson Caring Science Institute, this unique resource: Advocates the use of Golden Rooms, which provide dignified, private, and safe settings for death and dying Presents various cases that illustrate the need for a dignified death, as well as strategies on how to provide for this dignified death Provides questions of concern after each case scenario, suitable for class discussion or personal reflection Offers cost-effective end-of-life solutions for families, the medical establishment, and insurance companies

Each year, more than one million people and their loved-ones arrive at a decision to cease attempts at curative medical treatments and shift to hospice care, while one-in-five Americans now live in in geographical regions that have established lawful protocols allowing medical aid in dying—also known as assisted suicide. In this powerful new work, Lew Cohen, a psychiatrist and palliative medicine researcher, reveals a self-determination movement that empowers people to shape the timing and circumstances of their deaths, decriminalizes laws threatening those who help them, and passes assisted dying legislature. He offers a vivid tapestry woven from the candid, inspirational, and graphic stories of individuals who sought to choreograph how they would die. There is nothing simple about these decisions, and A Dignified Ending tackles the intricacies of timing, the presence of dementia and other dire but not terminal conditions, the legal risks, as well as the mixed reactions of the disability community. Cohen illuminates the evolution of right-to-die organizations in the United States, and the impact of activists like Jack Kevorkian, Derek Humphrey, Faye Girsh, Cody Curtis, and Brittany Maynard. The decision to conclude one’s life with a planned death is an emotionally polarizing subject. Nonetheless, the public increasingly wants to control how they die. This requires that people formulate their end-of-life preferences and not wait until the last moment to communicate these with physicians and families. A Dignified Ending conveys truthful and nuanced accounts of men and women who chose to die, and stories of the activists—proponents and opponents— who promote this growing right-to-die movement.

A noted conflict-resolution expert explores dignity, its role in human conflict, and its power to improve relationships Drawing on her extensive experience in international conflict resolution and on insights from evolutionary biology, psychology, and neuroscience, Donna Hicks explains what the elements of dignity are, how to recognize dignity violations, how to respond when we are not treated with dignity, how dignity can restore a broken relationship, why leaders must understand the concept of dignity, and more. By choosing dignity as a way of life, Hicks shows, we open the way to greater peace within ourselves and to a safer and more humane world for all. For the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Dignity, Hicks has written a new preface that reflects on her experience helping communities and individuals understand the power of dignity and how it can lead to a more peaceful world. "Anyone who understands the importance of personal feelings and their fuel for conflict should consider Dignity as a powerful advisory and motivational guide."--Midwest Book Review Winner of the 2012 Educator's Award, given by the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International.