Critique de Doody's Book

This is a manual for healthcare professionals who provide care for elderly persons with chronically disabling illness and conditions in healthcare facilities or at home through community based programs. It features a wide array of assessment tools, consumption promoting strategies, and specific strategies for managing problems with swallowing and dysphagia and for managing eating problems in persons with cognitive and perceptual deficits. Using a holistic and individualized approach to assessment and management of elderly persons with eating disabilities, the manual is designed to be an easy to use, concise reference with interventions and tools to increase dependence in eating; guide and assist in rehabilitation of persons with eating disability; and provide strategies and techniques to assist caregivers to provide more skillful assistance to dependent eaters. The manual is written by clinicians for clinicians who provide care for older adults with chronic disabling illness and conditions. Although it is specifically targeted at dietitians and highlights the role of the registered dietitian, the manual is useful for nurses and rehabilitation therapists, and is a great resource for students. This is a comprehensive and handy reference for a variety of topics such as nutritional needs of elderly persons, drug-food interactions, medications that affect nutritional status, and assistive eating devices. The manual provides step-by-step instructions for many restorative and rehabilitative strategies. Practical information is frequently summarized and presented in an easy to read tabular format with illustrative pictures and diagrams. Although the manual has a lot of useful information that is applicable to the acute care setting, i.e. the hospital, it does not specifically address the special needs of the hospitalized patient. This is a wonderful comprehensive resource and highly recommended for clinicians who work with elderly persons with eating disabilities. Robin E. Remsburg, PhD, APRN, BC(Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing). Copyright 2001, Doody Publishing