A
short while ago I received a comment on this blog from Anthony
Cirillo in response to one of the ‘Snippet’ entries I had
published a day or two earlier. Anthony is an entertainer
performing in Long Term Care Homes around the United States and,
by all accounts, he does a sterling job. It is a job, nay a
privilege, which brings him into close contact with all kinds of
long term care and respite care establishments and to see for
himself what goes on in them and thus gives him an excellent
opportunity to dispel the myths surrounding long term care
provision.
As
a result of that comment on my blog he and I became friends and
exchanged contact details. The other day he sent to me a package
containing a book he had written, entitled, ‘Who Moved My
Dentures’ and asked me if I would mind reviewing it for him on my
blog.
I’ve never reviewed a book before: the nearest I’ve ever got to it
was in English Literature classes in school, back when Adam were a
lad! So I hope Anthony can forgive my faltering efforts to review
his (I have to say) quite excellent and intelligent book.
I
entered into this task with some trepidation since my usual
response to reading is to fall asleep and I didn’t want that to
happen with Anthony’s book. I needn’t have worried. It is a slim
volume; just 162 pages long, but packed with a light hearted
though serious review of the life he has personally witnessed in
various care homes, all reported on from the perspective of
residents both past and present with whom he has talked to over
the years.
It
can easily be read in just one or two sittings and is an
entertaining and informative read, full of insight and revelation
about the lives, loves and antics of care home residents.
There are a great many myths surrounding long term care, myths
that do a lot of damage to this vital service and which serve to
deter its potential users from taking up its use. Myths such as
‘long term care facilities are places you go to die’, or ‘long
term care facilities are depressing, unclean and the last place
you would choose to spend time’.
Anthony takes many of these myths and, one by one, expertly
debunks each one with anecdotes gleaned from his conversations
with those very residents who should know best exactly what life
is like for them in long term care. Again and again his short
chapters resound with the joy and exuberance flowing both from his
own experiences and of those recounted to him by his all too
willing subjects.
I
can only witness from a different country and a different time,
but I have memories of my Great Uncle Cyril’s stay in an NHS care
facility and from where he subsequently passed on – all the
inmates I saw, including Uncle Cyril, just sat around like wheel
chair bound zombies; their expressionless stares providing a
sterile backdrop to the stench of stale urine. It was not a
pleasant experience and one guaranteed to bolster the kind of
myths Anthony now debunks in his book.
Does this mean I am at variance with Anthony’s views of long term
care? Not at all. Thankfully, I also have pleasurable memories of
a great aunt’s and, much more recently, of my own mother’s stay in
long term care. The love and attention afforded them could not
have been bettered.
My
own experiences, though, do seem at odds with Anthony’s tales of
the lucid and intelligent folk he has met over the years as a care
home entertainer. I cannot remember seeing a single resident
capable of holding an intelligent conversation, so Anthony’s
regaling of the free spirits he met was a welcome relief,
concerned as I was that all care homes only ever catered for were
senile old dears, blissfully unaware of their condition.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Long term care facilities
serve the needs of all who need care: from the infirm but rational
to those with dementia and Alzheimer’s; from the physically to the
mentally disabled; for those recovering from heart attacks and
strokes; and for all ages, from the young to the old. All life is
here and, seemingly, some of it is very much alive and refusing to
stop kicking.
For anyone needing long term care, but afraid of what’s facing
them thanks to the myths they have heard about it; or for those
charged with putting their loved ones into care but reluctant to
bite the bullet for fear of what they’re letting them in for: this
book is for you.
The final chapters provide an excellent resource of helpful
information, designed to facilitate making a better choice and
which follow a remarkable insight into how one might fund long
term care costs: never a small consideration. True, the book is
aimed at the American market and the final resource chapters are
specific to that sector, but the book is just too good to miss,
whatever part of the world you come from or are currently residing
in.
If
I have whetted your appetite and you would like to purchase the
book (and, if you’re faced with going into long term care yourself
or with placing a loved one there, then you could do a lot worse
than read this first!) it can be obtained from
Amazon
.
Its ISBN number is: 1-886057-60-5, “Who Moved My Dentures” by
Anthony Cirillo; published by Warren Publishing; price: $14.95.
It
has certainly dispelled some of the myths I had been carrying
around with me for a long, long time.
Well done Anthony and thank you.
And here's a review from Elder Law Answers:
'Who Moved My Dentures?'
Last Updated: 3/26/2009
Anthony Cirillo. "Who Moved
My Dentures?" 13 False (Teeth) Truths About Long-Term Care and
Aging in America. Warren Publishing. Cornelius, NC. 2003. 164
pages.
$14.95 from Amazon (click on
book to order).
The general perception of long-term
care facilities is of places to be avoided at all costs. This book
is intended to dispel that perception. "Who Moved My Dentures?"
is written by entertainer and health care consultant Anthony
Cirillo, who travels around the country performing for seniors at
nursing homes and other venues.
Cirillo highlights the positive
aspects of long-term care facilities. Using human interest stories
of people he has met through his work, Cirillo shows that these
often-dreaded facilities are full of life, including romance,
friendships, and activities. He contends that they build
resiliency, which in turn leads to longer life.
While Cirillo acknowledges there
are problems, he believes that the majority of long-term care
facilities have few troubles. In addition, he dispels myths that
most long-term care facility residents are mentally ill or suffer
from dementia, and instead presents a picture of residents who are
active and engaged in the world around them.
Cirillo doesn't discuss nursing
home rights and regulations, but he does offer some information on
paying for long-term care and tips for how to judge a good
facility. "Who Moved My Dentures?" is easy to read, with
many heartwarming stories, and presents a different perspective
from the one found in most other nursing home-related books.
Anthony Cirillo's wonderful words of wisdom, May 23, 2006