Augsburg Fortress

Janet L. Ramsey has written an honest, personal, and wise book about living with what she calls the ‘tough hope’ that can sustain people through the dementia journey. From her experiences as caregiver, pastor, chaplain, marriage and family counselor, and professor, she weaves together stories of individuals living in what she aptly describes as the ‘messy world’ of dementia. She introduces readers to several ordinary, courageous individuals whose stories animate this book.  Like other books about dementia, Ramsey’s work offers many practical approaches to issues like communication strategies. However, unlike any I have read, she relates how the practices of giving and receiving dementia care can support and sustain spiritual resiliency.

Ramsey’s book is unique in that it offers both useful, practical advice (such as how to communicate with someone with dementia) as well as emotional and spiritual guidance for those who are confronted with this challenging but also (potentially) very rewarding job. Ramsey pulls directly from her experiences as a caregiver, a therapist, and a pastor, weaving them together into an inspirational but also realistic handbook for caregivers. Hers is an elegant voice that lends itself to engrossment! As a therapist myself, I found this to be an elucidating read and have already used its insightful content to deepen my own work with caregivers. I would definitely recommend this book to those who find themselves on this spiritual journey called caregiving, as well as to therapists, pastors, or other helping professionals who support caregivers and want to expand their empathy and understanding of what the experience of caregiving is like at the core level.

How much I wish I had had this book as a resource when our family sought to give care to our parents in their final years with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This is a helpful book for people worrying about dementia and about those as caregivers for people with dementia. This book is faithful and confessional and devotional. Ramsey helps us all to not look at dementia as a long, tedious, hopeless journey; she, rather, encourages us to take the journey a minute at a time with those we love, and to allow ourselves to be surprised with ‘tough hope.’ This book is more than a read; it’s worth rereading over and over.

While information about dementia and management strategies for caregivers abound, the relational and spiritual aspects of the lives of older adults and their care partners is often missing from both family and professional conversations. Dignity and Grace: Wisdom for Caregivers and Those Living with Dementia fills this gap. Grounded in research, theory, and practice, Ramsey draws upon her own experiences as an educator, researcher, pastoral counselor, and family caregiver as well as persons with dementia and their caregivers to provide meaningful and inspiring guidance for those living with dementia and engaged in dementia care. By bringing to light the importance of living and caring with dignity and grace, Ramsey gently weaves together the realities of the losses associated with dementia with spiritual guidance to meet the challenges and reap the rewards of dementia caregiving. Her elegant use of psalms and infusion of Christian beliefs and practices makes this carefully written book a must-read for individuals with dementia and all of those who join them on the care journey. Ramsey’s engaged writing style and the practicality of the information provided makes reading this book an insightful, meaningful, and comforting experience.