Doing Things shows how to provide a positive environment for persons with Alzheimer's disease by offering opportunities for social interaction and constructive, enjoyable activities. Zgola outlines the ways in which a patient's functional impairment can be assessed; the strengths, weaknesses, and needs most commonly encountered among persons with Alzheimer's disease; and ways activities can be tailored to accommodate them. She offers step-by-step instructions for selecting and presenting appropriate activities and includes cooking and crafts projects, a sample exercise routine, and a sample daily schedule. The techniques she describes are designed to promote a sense of security and self-esteem, by avoiding possible sources of confusion or confrontation.

Based on the highly successful program developed at one day-care facility for persons with dementia, Doing Things offers an invaluable guide for professionals and volunteers supervising activities at day-care centers and extended-care facilities—as well as for individuals who are caring for patients at home. Throughout, Zgola's emphasis is on treating persons who have Alzheimer's disease with empathy, courtesy, and dignity.

Jitka M. Zgola is an international consultant and educator based in Canada.

Jitka M. Zgola's profile page

"A valuable resource for professionals, paraprofessionals, and family members working with Alzheimer's disease patients."

"This guide shows how to establish a positive environment for Alzheimer's patients by providing social interaction and productive activity, with an emphasis on treating patients with empathy, courtesy, and dignity."

"The book's greatest strength is that it serves as a source of dozens of ideas for meaningful activities for persons with dementing illness... This book should be required reading for the adult day-care staff with an interest in dementia. But this reviewer hopes the book will find a wider audience. Patient educators and counselors will find this a valuable reference and teaching guide; the book will be especially helpful to those counselors who work with families caring for persons with dementing illness. Families living with the day-to-day stress of caregiving will find hope in the book's optimism and viewed that we can strive to bring out the best in persons with dementia."

"This material provides useful suggestions for the Alzheimer's patient at home. Zgola's program would work best in the community setting where the patient with a disease of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) is transported to a center or health care facility. Doing Things provides step-by-step alternatives to a dull vegetative existence, and should be particularly helpful to the primary care provider who desperately needs a 'day off.'."