The 36-Hour Day

A Family Guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer Disease and Other Dementias, Seventh Edition

By: Nancy L. Mace, Peter V. Rabins

Narrated by: Laurence Bouvard, John Chancer

For 40 years, The 36-Hour Day has been the leading work in the field for caregivers of those with dementia. Written by experts with decades of experience caring for individuals with memory loss, Alzheimer's, and other dementias, the book is widely known for its authoritativeness and compassionate approach to care. Featuring everything from the causes of dementia to managing its early stages to advice on caring for those in the later stages of the disease, it is widely considered to be the most detailed and trusted book available.

Highlighting useful takeaway messages and informed by recent research into the causes of dementia, this new edition has been completely updated. It features

• brand-new content on everything from home care aides to useful apps to promising preventative techniques and therapies
• practical advice for avoiding caregiver burnout—plus tips for when and how to get additional help

The central idea underlying this indispensable book—that much can be done to improve the lives of people with dementia and of those caring for them—remains the same. The 36-Hour Day is the definitive dementia care guide.

©2021 Johns Hopkins University Press (P)2022 Johns Hopkins University Press

Great content

Chapter references are not updated with current edition, which can cause confusion when looking for references content

So Helpful

Thank you for writing this material and being so helpful to me as I care for my wife who has Alzheimer’s.

Great Resource

My dad’s doctor recommended that I read this book. It is a hard read emotionally but has invaluable information. I would highly recommend it if you are caring for someone with any of the dementias. It took me over a month to finish because I had to put down and meditate on it. This book is intended for home caregivers not for nursing home caregiving.

Thorough, understandable and thoughtfully written.

My book club group selected this book and I decided to get the audio version of the book first because I had cataract surgery on my eyes. There were so many jewels of information in this book that I decided to also purchase the hard copy version. I wish I had known about this book many years ago, when I was caring for my dad with Alzheimer’s disease. I learned a lot from the process of caring for him but this book would have been so helpful. I’m back in a caregiver role again for someone diagnosed with the disease. This book is packed full of information, all of the important things to know from many perspectives—even things that a person may be embarrassed to talk about but should be aware of. I liked the frank nature of this book and the transitions when discussing examples of different scenarios. Well worth the time and money.

Very informative

Read as soon as you see there is a problem. A lot of decisions we had to make would have been easier with the guidance from this book. That said, it was still very helpful even though our family member was in moderate to late Alzheimer’s. Warning: it’s tough and very sad to read a lot of the book, but in my opinion you need to face the brutal facts and plan for the different challenges you may face. And ultimately for what is inevitable.

Wish I read when signs started right away with my grandmother. Definitely HELPFUL!!!

This is definitely a book that I wish I read a little sooner as I have two grandmothers who have dementia and it certainly helps to explain some of their behaviors that I didn’t know connect with dementia. I thought I knew the fair amount about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, however, this book goes over so many details and there are a significant amount of things that I had no idea had a connection to dementia. For example, My grandmother hoards some food in her bedroom and I had no clue that that connected to dementia and had I read this book a little earlier, it would’ve help me to recognize some of those signs and symptoms and help connect the dots for me as a family member and for my mom as a caregiver to understand the reason for some of these behaviors. Book is truly insightful and gives so much information that it can be hard to take it all in but if you spread it out over a period of time maybe take some notes and add some sticky notes in the book, it may help you to process all the information. I highly highly recommend this book to any family member of someone whom you believe may be developing dementia even if you are unsure. At least look at the sections that talk to you about signs and symptoms of dementia so that you can recognize that and start the process in talking to your loved ones doctors about that. This book is also helpful for family and friends who live a far and I’m not near the person who has dementia. You might think that you aren’t able to help, However this book points out that there are plenty of ways to help whether you are the immediate caregiver, whether you are a loved one nearby and you’re your loved one is in a nursing home or something, or if you’re a family member or friend who lives far far away and feel like you can’t help. It points out so many ways that you are able to help the person with dementia and especially the person who is the caregiver family member of the person who has dementia. It really helps in all facets of talking about dementia. It points out signs and symptoms, it helps to point out and give you questions that you can ask doctors, it also points out that there are some parts in dementia that can be helped if the person has another disease or problem that is kind of causing the dementia. It shows you how to go through the steps when you have a loved one or friend who has dementia and seeing what ways you could help them, you can get them help, and how to learn and cope with having a loved one with this disease. There is one part of the book and which is the reason that I did not give five stars in each category, and that is I feel like we are present it was so many signs and symptoms and issues, however we’re not always presented with solutions and that’s where I felt like the book lacks a little bit in some areas of presenting with solutions for particular things. However that is not in all areas of the book that it doesn’t percent solutions.

Good Content/too Physician Oriented

Over all good content, but it is far too physician oriented. Less than 50% of primary care is provided by physicians, so future revisions should use more provider neutral language. As a Nurse Practitioner, I would love to recommend this book, but I would feel better about it if the current state of primary care was better represented. Also with the Baby Boomers aging, addressing the lack of resources available to care for them and how to adapt to the shortage would be valuable.