According to the Alzheimer's Association, one in ten persons over sixty-five and nearly half of those over eighty-five have Alzheimer's disease. Today, 4 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease. In a national survey, 19 million Americans said they have a family member with the ailment, and 37 million said they knew someone who had it. But when Rosette Teitel found herself in the role of caregiver to her ailing husband, she could find no books that answered her practical needs: How do you give a 170-pound man a shower? How do you pick him up when he falls? What should you anticipate as the disease progresses? What support networks are available? When is it time to consider a nursing home and how do you find one?

While many Alzheimer's disease books focus on the disease and the patient, Teitel draws on her own experience -- as well as that of a clinical psychologist, a coordinator of an Alzheimer's program at a community center, members of the Alzheimer's Foundation, a research psychologist, an elder-law attorney, and a neurologist -- to tackle subjects rarely dealt with in other self-help books. Teitel covers topics such as managing the expenses of long-term care through Medicaid, estate planning, and preparing for the patient's death and the loss of someone whose daily survival has been at the center of one's existence. The chapters deal with background information on diagnosis, treatment, and the progression of the disease; the physical and emotional changes and resources involved with the day-to-day caregiving; support networks; nursing homes; finances; death of the patient; grief, mourning, and life after the patient's death; and interviews with children caring for parents withAlzheimer's disease. In addition, Teitel provides a helpful list of frequently asked questions, scheduling and memory aids, and websites where readers can find resources.