Baltimore, MD (December 2009)—Today’s media coverage of Alzheimer’s disease centers on finding a cure. Painfully little attention goes toward what can be done for the growing number of individuals who currently live with the disease. It is fairly safe to say that a cure will never be developed in their lifetimes. How can we make a difference for them now?

Health Professions Press has published, Let’s Look Together: An Interactive Picture Book for People with Alzheimer’s and Other Forms of Memory Loss by Rae-Lynn Cebul Ziegler, OTR, to provide a resource that can be used today with people who have Alzheimer’s. Using evocative, sensory-stimulating images, this picture book for adults is to be shared between a family or professional caregiver and a person with memory loss to encourage meaningful emotional connections and conversations that, simultaneously, produce therapeutic brain stimulation.

Grounded in the principles of sensory integration – the process by which the body’s central nervous system takes in and processes information for meaningful daily use – occupational therapist Rae-Lynn Cebul Ziegler presents photographs that trigger multiple and varied sensory reactions (tasting, hearing, touching) for maximum mental engagement. When going through this book, whether one-on-one with a caregiver or in a group setting, these reactions open the door for conversation and reminiscence, an important step in creating a purposeful activity for an individual with Alzheimer’s. The images suggest emotions, events, or actions. Each picture stands alone on a page—without words—for free association and interpretation. This not only helps the viewer stay focused on the image but also keeps the activity "failure-free," allowing the individual to interpret, react to, and discuss the image in whatever way it is experienced in that particular moment.

Validated through research conducted with people in the mid- to late stages of Alzheimer’s disease, Ziegler’s work demonstrates that spending time with an interactive picture book helps people with memory loss stay connected and engaged. The results of her study can be found in the back of the book.

"This is supportive communication at its best," says Teepa Snow, OTR/L, a dementia care & training specialist. "It provides individuals living with dementia a failure-free, friendly, emotionally rich, and familiar way to open up and share in whatever ways they have left… [It] can be used over and over, serving as a re-useable and renewable resource."

Rae-Lynn Cebul Ziegler, OTR/L, is a licensed occupational therapist certified in sensory integration. Based in Wake Forest, North Carolina, she has worked in a variety of settings with developmentally disabled children and geriatric clients who display physical, psycho-social, and cognitive disabilities. She encourages thinking "outside of the box" in helping her clients adapt to their unique circumstances.

For more information or to purchase this book, visit our website at www.healthpropress.com/ziegler.

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Let’s Look Together: An Interactive Picture Book for People with Alzheimer’s and Other Forms of Memory Loss
by Rae-Lynn Cebul Ziegler OTR/L
Health Professions Press, 2009
56 pages, 8½ x 11 paperback, $28.95, ISBN 978-1-932529-51-7

Health Professions Press, Inc. (Baltimore, Maryland) is a publisher of high-quality educational resources for professionals in the fields of aging, long-term care, and health services administration. Visit www.healthpropress.com to learn more about this independent company, its vision, mission, and ever-growing list of publications.