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Clinical Diagnosis and Management of Alzheimer's Disease, 3rd edition Editor: SERGE GAUTHIER London: Informa Healthcare Ltd, 2006, £99.00. Hardback, 390 pp. ISBN-10: 0 415 37299 2; ISBN-13: 978 0 415 37299 2

There is no shortage of books aimed at those caring for people with dementia. The often-preached rule of taking care of one’s self as a caregiver is framed here in the context of coping with anger, denial and guilt. The unique contribution of this book is that it addresses the issue of family denial, which is often at the core of family conflict in dementia. Helpfully, the book provides a number of scenarios to illustrate how conflict might be generated and dealt with within families who are naturally comprised of different personalities (e.g. the “helpless one,” the “know-it-all,” the “busy one,” the “tired harried caregiver”), each with different approaches to dealing with dementia. Drawing on their own experience as psychologists and caregivers, the authors provide practical, workable approaches for families who find themselves in dilemmas such as “communication crises” when trying to work together as a group to organize and proceed with a plan of care. Chapters include dealing with challenging behaviors, driving, decisions on day care and long-term placement. Although such challenges are dealt with in other books, it is heartening as a family therapist to find a book that offers tips not for the individual carer but for the family as a unit, to meet and create unified fronts (referred to in the book as the “collective you”) in dealing with these issues. As promised by the authors, it is indeed a handbook for families.