Still Me - by Sabina Brennan (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The essential toolkit to navigating dementia, supporting loved ones and caring for yourself

Dementia can be devastating. Almost a million people are currently living with the disease in the UK alone and this is set to triple by 2050. With family members often providing care, navigating treatment can be overwhelming. But there is life after diagnosis.

Still Me reframes the job of caring for someone with dementia as a partnership. Both you and your loved one deserve respect, support and the latest research to help you on your journey.

Top neuroscientist and bestselling author Dr Sabina Brennan combines her professional knowledge with her personal experience of caring for her mother with dementia. With a human-rights approach that validates everyone's experience and dignity, she offers:
- A self-care plan for care partners to cope with demands and optimise the caregiving experience
- Practical advice on how to manage challenging symptoms, stimulate cognitive function and encourage a brain-healthy lifestyle
- Evidence-based therapies to improve both you and your relative's quality of life.

Dementia can steal many things, but it doesn't have to take away the simple pleasures of life. Shifting the focus from the disease to the person, Still Me reminds you that your relative is still there and that you, as a care partner, are just as important.

Review Quotes

"A wonderful resource for any family affected by dementia ... Dr Brennan's professional experience of dementia, along with her academic knowledge and her family experience of dementia, gives her a unique perspective and this is clear from the nuggets of advice and information on every page ... realistic yet hopeful." --Judy Williams, Advocacy, Engagement and Participation Officer at The Alzheimer Society of Ireland

"This is an essential and much-needed guide for both those living with dementia and their caregivers. Sabina understands how important the partnership is between caregiver and dementia patient, and draws on the most up-to-date and innovative research to show how to both optimise the caregiving experience and boost wellbeing and brain health for both. A long-overdue resource." --Kimberly Tully, Chief Executive of Engaging Dementia

"Indispensable. The practical information is presented in such a positive manner despite the complex and potentially heavy subject matter at hand ... Dr Sabina Brennan's compassionate approach and deep level of understanding of the care partner's lived experience gives us back our sense of self, gives us solace, and it fills us with hope for the journey ahead." --Helena Quaid, Chair, Dementia Carers Campaign Network

"A beautifully written, warm, personal, empathetic but immensely practical book ... Sabina illuminates the path in front of us, wherever we are on this journey. Drawing on cutting edge research combined with her own personal experience, she strongly advocates the importance of self-care, both physical and emotional; how to truly communicate with the one we love battling this illness, remembering at all times, that the person we know is 'still there', hidden underneath the complex layers which make up this condition; and finally the importance of both care-partners trying to live as well as possible, with the time they have together, and how to achieve this goal." --Dr Harry Barry, GP, author and mental health advocate

About the Author

Dr Sabina Brennan is a chartered health psychologist, neuroscientist, award-winning science communicator and the host of the successful Super Brain podcast. She has acted as an ambassador for organisations including SAGE and the Neurological Alliance of Ireland, and has also advised the Irish Government on brain health and dementia risk reduction. Her previous books 100 Days to a Younger Brain and Beating Brain Fog were both Irish Times number one bestsellers.