MY COMPANION VOICE

COMMUNICATION for the COGNIZANT NONVERBAL PATIENT by Jean Alleman,Trudy Brown & Susan Robison

About the Book:

If you're a patient whose mind knows what to say but whose mouth is unable to convey those thoughts, you've probably become very frustrated with finding a way to get your needs met. If you're the caregiver watching or trying to help the patient, you've likely become frustrated as well. Communication is about to become easier. With the help of this book, patients will finally be able to express their needs without speaking.

Simple sentences such as 'I am thirsty. May I have some water?' and so forth allow patients to point out the thought they need to share so caregivers know just how to help. With colorful illustrations and an easy format, Communication for the Cognizant, Nonverbal Patient is the book that will give a voice to patients.
This is a wonderful book that provides a way for patients who have lost their ability to speak to still communicate their needs. It was created by 3 sisters who dealt with the frustration their Mother had in trying to communicate with her caregivers, at the end of her life.
It includes simple sentences that express the needs of a patient. It has big print so patients who are visually challenged can use it too. I took a couple of pictures of the pages so everyone could see how it works.

There is a section on basic hygiene.

 Food

Comfort

And there is a page with letters, so the patient can either point to the letters to spell out a need . The alphabet page is numbered so that if a patient can't point the caregiver can still find out what they want.

I spent several months sitting with my Dad in a care center last fall and while he was able to make his wishes known, I saw a lot of people that would have benefited from this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has family members who aren't able to communicate, or who works in a Care Center.

For information about ordering go to: http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61739-917-6.

You can check out My Companion Voice on www.facebook.com

A copy of this book was provided to me by Cheri Crane.