Sentient Care™

An Alzheimer’s Surprise Party: Unveiling the Mystery, Inner Experience, and Gifts of Dementia ~ NEW BOOK

ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
ANNOUNCING OUR NEW EDITION

In An Alzheimer’s Surprise Party researchers Tom Richards and Stan Tomandl propose that people with Alzheimer’s dementia are not spiraling downward into “mindless pathology” as commonly believed, but are human beings in deep inner states of consciousness, parallel realities, that may reveal important and meaningful experiences for them, their families, and for society.
By applying new sentient communication skills and meticulously documenting their twenty …

Interview with Tom Richards, co-author of An Alzheimer’s Surprise Party

Question:  Alzheimer’s disease is devastating for individuals, caregivers, and families. What message does your research have for these folks?
“Our research explores the mystery, and dispels the stigma, of Alzheimer’s dementia by revealing its potential for meaningful communication, intimate relationship, and spiritual healing. We offer hope and meaning in the midst of one of life’s scariest and most difficult processes.”
Question:   How do you do that? How do you work with …

An Alzheimer’s Surprise Party Prequel ~ New Volume II ~ Focusing on the Early and Intermediate Stages

ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
ANNOUNCING OUR NEW SECOND VOLUME
This second volume,  “AN ALZHEIMER’S SURPRISE PARTY PREQUEL”, helps families and professional caregivers hone acute observation skills which aid compassionate awareness of patients’ inner experience of dementia. Researchers Tom Richards and Stan Tomandl present a profound example of an Alzheimer’s patient working on himself psychologically, and communicating in meaningful ways with family and friends. They demonstrate outcomes that include psychological, soulful, and spiritual …

From our readers of “An Alzheimer’s Surprise Party”

“I bought one copy of your book and am so impressed that I am now buying ten copies so that I may have copies available to family members of persons with dementia, and am also going to give copies to the geriatric psych unit, of which I am the medical director, and to the two long term care facilities, of which I am the medical director. Thank you for writing such …

Training Resource ~ An Alzheimer’s Surprise Party

“Speaking as a professional psychologist, teacher, and trainer, I highly recommend An Alzheimer’s Surprise Party as an exceptional training tool not only for professionals, but also for family members, friends and caregivers.
It is exceptional because Tom and Stan have made it interactive. They do not simply present abstract psychological concepts, but develop detailed reality based personal experiences enhanced with clear concise observations, structure, and …

What is dementia?

Dementia is a loss of mental function in two or more areas such as language, memory, visual and spatial abilities, or judgment severe enough to interfere with daily life. Dementia itself is not a disease, but a broader set of symptoms that accompanies certain diseases or physical conditions.

Well known diseases that cause dementia include Alzheimer’s disease, multi infarct dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, Pick’s disease, AIDS, alcohol and …

Ten Near Death and Coma Work Tips for Helpers and Family

Some of the tips we provide below may be useful for helpers and family who ponder what to do in end of life states. Follow these tips if they are useful, but please don’t use these suggestions as commandments.
Please value feeling skills or meta-skills (feeling attitudes that you bring with your deeply centered presence) as much as skills.
There are no firm procedures and may never be any fixed rules in …

PREFACE ~ An Alzheimer’s Surprise Party

In this groundbreaking work Tom Richards and Stan Tomandl offer a new and exciting shift in the therapeutic mind set for family, friends, and professionals working with people in Alzheimer’s and other dementia states.

They propose that people with Alzheimer’s dementia are not spiraling downward into “mindless pathology”, but are human beings in states of altered consciousness, parallel realities, that may be important and meaningful experiences for them, their families, …

Coma Work and Palliative Care

Coma Work and Palliative Care is an introductory communication skills manual for people living in delirium, dementia, coma, and end of life processes.
This is a definitive resource for communication techniques and care etiquette in these difficult and sacred situations.
Remote, minimally responsive states of consciousness do not equate with lack of sensitivity. On the contrary, people in these very far out remote states of altered consciousness can be very delicate and …

Coma and Remote State Directive

The COMA AND REMOTE STATE DIRECTIVE is a legal document; an advance directive, also known as a living will. The intention of this document is to implement your wishes if you are ever concerned with communication and decision making durIng confusion, delirium, stupor, coma, vegetative state, depression, catatonia, dementia, and other remote states of altered consciousness.
This document helps ensure that you receive verbal and nonverbal support for your awareness of …