If compassion could be personified, John Zeisel, Ph.D. could be in the running for the visual image. His book, “I’m Still Here: A New Philosophy of Alzheimer’s Care,” promotes the idea that Alzheimer’s symptoms can often be managed through compassionate, non-pharmacological methods, or in conjunction with pharmacological methods.

After reading about Zeisel’s approach, I requested the book from his publisher to see for myself. I wasn’t disappointed. In “I’m Still Here,” Zeisel teaches approaches that help caregivers understand that the person with Alzheimer’s still has access to many forms of memory functions, and that memories aren’t really lost, they just become harder to access.

As with any person who has a disability, someone with Alzheimer’s is first a person and then someone who has the disability. Zeisel looks at Alzheimer’s with the “glass half full” approach, rather than a glass that is rapidly becoming empty. He says that people with Alzheimer’s can live a life of quality, and that caregivers and others who love the person with the disease can still have a meaningful, exciting life with their loved one, and even gain closeness in the relationship with the proper approach.

Zeisel’s considerable experience, as the president and cofounder of Hearthstone Alzheimer Care, has taught him that people with Alzheimer’s are creative people. They can not only benefit from involvement in all of the arts, from drama to painting, but they can give insights many of us without the disease may not find on our own. He’s personally seen the amazing difference that treating a person with Alzheimer’s as a person first, and a person with a disease second, can make.

Zeisel writes about approaches to effectively manage what he calls the “4 A’s” that can accompany Alzheimer’s disease – agitation, apathy, anxiety and aggression. With the caring approach he advocates, Zeisel says these expressions of unrest that people with Alzheimer’s often exhibit can be generally well managed with limited medication.

In “I’m Still Here,” Zeisel presents ideas for building memory cues into a person’s environment, so he or she can function more independently, why it’s important to encourage this independence and ways to appreciate and foster your new relationship with your loved one.

“I’m Still Here” provides some of the most positive information I’ve read involving the treatment of people with Alzheimer’s. We must not ever let a person’s disease diminish his or her humanity. As a caregiver who spent ten years trying to reaffirm my father’s right to the best life he could have, I am onboard with Zeisel in working with the whole person. An educated and compassionate caregiver can help those living with Alzheimer’s disease find the best quality of life possible.

“I’m Still Here,” published by Avery, is available in bookstores and online.

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