Works of Love Newsletter
Stephen G. Post
New Insights in Caring for Deeply Forgetful People
Dear Friends:
Love means that the well-being and security of another is as real to you as your own, and sometimes more so. This works well for any human interaction, whether looking after a child, a student, a spouse, or an old friend who has had some hard times, and so forth.
Love also holds for how we can care for a deeply forgetful person. Yes indeed, if we set aside "hypercognitive" biases that exclude and even demean, if we decide that someone is to be loved despite cognitive loss and behavioral challenges, then we can notice expressions of continuing self-identity.
Here is a very nice article/interview that captures this idea beautifully. Enjoy. It is based on an interview with the very distinguished neurosurgeon Michael Egnor MD.
Michael Egnor: When you refer to paradoxical lucidity, what do you mean by that?
Stephen Post: Well, I'm talking about the roughly 80% of caregivers who self-report moments of absolutely surprising lucidity. They assumed that their loved one was gone absent a husk, a shell, incapable of being present in any significant sense. And yet lo and behold, that individual either is totally spontaneously or sometimes prompted by symbols, by personalized music, will actually come back into themselves.
Book Review for Dignity For Deeply Forgetful People: How Caregivers Can Meet the Challenges of Alzheimer's Disease
Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice, July 2024
LH Ren, L Hung
2024 - journals.sagepub.com
 Amazon |
In his book of Dignity for Deeply forgetful people: How caregivers can meet the challenges of Alzheimer's Disease, Post offers an insightful, comprehensive and richly detailed discussion, driven by the core belief that individuals living with dementia deserve dignity, and that their caregivers are of immense value. Reflecting on elements such as compassion, respect, equity and interdependence, Post wrote key topics related to the everyday lives of people living with dementia and their caregivers.
Post starts the book with a critical reflection on the dominant hypercognitive values in Western societies, which diminish the value of people living with dementia-whom he terms "the deeply forgetful people". Then, he presents a rationale and approaches designed to instill hope in caregivers to of people living with Alzheimer's Disease. In subsequent chapters, Post delves into crucial topics such as Pre-emptive Physician-Assisted Suicide (PPAS), ethics consideration, self-identity, and the respect for preferences in healthcare and research.
For readers, especially informal caregivers, this book offers profound insights into the wide spectrum of care for people living with dementia and selfcare for caregivers themselves. With a focus on dignity for people living with Alzheimer's Disease, Post addresses key questions surrounding self-identity for people with advanced dementia, hope and resilience-building in caregivers. For instance, questions like "Is grandma still there?" and "How can caregivers maintain hope?" are explored with openness, suggesting that caregivers remain attuned to the presence of their loved ones and explore "new aspects to be discovered"
This book is also helpful for staff in institutional care settings, community workers, researchers, leaders, and decision-makers in gerontology. Through compelling stories, Post presents the complexity and positivity in caregiving for people living with dementia from different culture, ethnicity, religion, life experiences and socioeconomic status. These narratives provide theoretical and ethical guidance for practice, research, teaching, learning and policymaking, aimed at uplifting the dignity of people living with Alzheimer's Disease and their caregivers.
Stephen G. Post, PhD, Founder and President (2001-current)
The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love
unlimitedloveinstitute.org
stephengpost.com
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