HELP!
Someone I Love has Dementia
By Jo Johnson
DayOne. £2.50
ISBN 978 1 846 254 581
This is an excellent booklet with reassuring and practical tips for anyone facing the distressing diagnosis of dementia. Easy to read, clear, insightful and comforting and with 850,000 people suffering dementia in the UK (2015 figure), this is a really helpful tool.
Author Jo Johnson’s experience and clinical expertise is evident in her discussion and compassion on the subject of both dementia suffering and dementia care. She explains the condition clearly and gives hope to both the sufferer and the carer. She confronts the pain and gives the carer permission to ask for help – in fact she insists the person reaches out for help.
This is a blessing for those of us who are carers and may be afraid to voice fears and frustrations. Jo emphasises the need to share and as fellow believers to reach out to those in need in both practical and spiritual ways. We are not to have to bear our burdens alone or try and cope alone-we must remember that God stands with us every step of the way.
Jo reminds us of Job who cries out to God in his turmoil – being honest rather than bolting on a smile and pretending it is all ok. We are human and will face sadness, but though our bodies and minds fade, Jo reminds us that our heavenly status remains the same and in heaven we will have new bodies not vulnerable to disease. Nothing can separate us from God- even dementia-both the loved one with dementia and the dementia carer are secure in Jesus.
This booklet has helped me and has also inspired me to look at the other HELP! Booklets that Day One have published!
