[PW] Question about a book

[Susan Barber]

Maybe this one:

*http://www.amazon.com/Nobodys-Home-Candid-Reflections-Nursing/dp/080147261X/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-2095404-4385537?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186417528&sr=8-1

Nobody's Home: Candid Reflections of a Nursing Home Aide (Paperback)

**Editorial Reviews*
*"From Publishers Weekly*
This honest and heartfelt book is a firsthand account of the reality of 
life in a nursing home. Gass, who spent five years in a Catholic 
seminary, ran a halfway house and was a teacher, returned to the U.S. 
after many years in Asia to care for his dying mother. That experience 
led him to work as a poorly paid aide in a long-term care facility in 
the Midwest. In a calm, intelligent and matter-of-fact style, Gass 
describes his often unpleasant daily routines. He cleans, feeds and 
dresses the patients; tries to converse with them, although they are 
often senile; and mostly, attempts to preserve their dignity. Perhaps 
Gass's most important observation is how uncomfortable everyone is 
around the home's residents---the staff, the relatives and the visitors. 
To combat that, he tries to do something to engage them: "Face to face, 
up close and personal, I learn to focus my full attention in flashes. 
One moment at a time, out comes my inner child. When I happen to touch 
residents softly or treat them affectionately, something may melt within 
and they become temporarily free of these depressing walls...." In the 
epilogue, Gass offers specific suggestions to reform nursing homes. He 
proposes having pets for the patients and letting children interact with 
older people more regularly. While this volume's depressing subject may 
be off-putting to some people, the book should be required reading for 
health care professionals and others in the medical field.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. 
All rights reserved. /--This text refers to the Hardcover 
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801442435/sr=8-1/qid=1186417528/ref=dp_proddesc_1/104-2095404-4385537?ie=UTF8&n=283155&qid=1186417528&sr=8-1> 
edition./ "

Jocelyn Shaw wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have a patron looking for a recently published book written by an author
> who found him/herself in a nursing home or assisted living center and wrote
> about his/her experiences.  The patron and I have both tried googling
> various permutations of nursing home biography writer etc.  Does this ring a
> bell with anyone?
>
> TIA!
>
> Jocelyn
>
>
>   

-- 

Susan R. Barber
Reference Services Assistant
Captain John Smith Library
Christopher Newport University
sbarber at cnu.edu