Product Description

This book has touched over a million people by providing wisdom and guidance in making a nursing home placement for a loved one. Doug outlines the decision process, how to understand the emotions and guilt that may accompany this move, and how to develop a healthy relationship with the loved one once the move has been made. He also discusses family meetings, legal and financial issues and working with the facility.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #391147 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

From the Author
Many of our loved ones will live beyond our ability to care for them. I promised my parents they would never be residents of a nursing home. Since that time, my father and mother-in-law have died in nursing facilities, and my mother died in an assisted living center. No matter what our intentions or promises, we sometimes must face the tough decision of doing what people need, not what they want.

About the Author
Doug's career has included minister, counselor, business executive, author and publisher. He and his wife, Barbara, have been parents to four daughters and long-term caregivers to three parents.
Doug has a warm, conversational style in which he shares insights from various experiences. Sitting down to read a book by Doug is like having a conversation with a good friend.

Customer Reviews

Invaluable resource
This book helped us so much deal with caring for our elderly parents and grandparent both at home and in nursing homes. It explains the psychology of the elderly and the children who must care for them. Don't make any decision before reading it. It will make a very difficult decision easier and more informed.

EXCELLENT WORK. THOSE FACING THIS DECISION NEED TO READ THIS WORK
Placing a mother, father, grandparent or other beloved family member in a nursing facility is probably one of the most difficult decisions a family will face. This is a decision, that as the "baby boomers" get older, more and more families will have to come to grips with. In many ways our society, as a whole, rejects the concept of nursing facilities; for many different reasons. There is a point in many lives though, when it becomes absolutely impossible to care for a loved one at home, even with the current Home Health Care system we have in place. When the time comes to make this decision, the family, or consumer, if you will, must be armed with as many facts as possible and be as emotionally prepared as possible.

This small 90 page book is one of the best publications I have encountered over the years. It is written in a completely conversation style, is compassionate, yet extremely pragmatic and practical. Doug Manning has addressed the emotional issues involved in the decision making process and has given some very good advice. Now this is not a "how to choose a nursing home book," although it does address this issue, but rather the focus of the work is how to emotionally handle this common situation. How do you prepare yourself and the love one for the move? Does a nursing facility replace a home? Do you feel overwhelming guilt? Is there anger involved? Is there family disagreement over which road to take? What is the families' role one the loved one has been placed? What is the nursing home's role? What to do with the inevitable grief? How do you confront the patient? How do you interact with the nursing home staff? What are your responsibilities, both moral and legal? These questions and so many more are addressed by the author.

Much research, much soul-searching, and must investigation must be made before decisions can be made. This little work will not answer all of your questions, bit it is certainly a good start and a good guide to begin your journey.

I like the approach this author has made and I like this work. Highly recommend.

Note: I have worked as a private consultant for the Nursing Home Industry for many years now, and do know something of the process.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

There's help out there.
Doug Manning has done it again. He has changed my view of the decision to put parents into nursing care when the time comes forever. I can face this (am facing this) decision now with a clear head AND a clear conscience, and do what is the best for all parties involved. Once again, he speaks to our hearts and our minds at once, with practical suggestions for steps to take, descriptions of what we may face, and acknowledgement of our own pain, guilt, frustration, and confusion. Another must-read for caregivers facing the need for more help than can be given at home.