Getting to Know the Life Stories of Older Adults: Activities for Building Relationships
Kathy Laurenhue, M.A., is CEO of Wiser Now, Inc., a company focused on training and product and curriculum development related to older adults, with an emphasis on brain aerobics and other positive mind stimulation, life stories, dementia, and caregiving. For the past 15 years, Kathy has given training seminars throughout the United States and Australia, and has developed multi-media training materials for national companies in both countries.In the 1990s, Kathy was president of Better Directions, Inc., a multi-media training company that emphasized a practical, but light-hearted approach to Alzheimer's care. She was also the editor ofWiser Now, an international award-winning monthly newsletter for Alzheimer's caregivers. Her interest in life stories began in the early 1970s as she began interviewing relatives to try to make sense of her father's complicated genealogy. This was followed by a home business of writing the life stories of others, teaching life stories through the local community college, leading programming sessions in long-term care, and ultimately writingGetting to Know the Life Stories of Older Adults.Kathy has a master's degree in instructional technology and an undergraduate degree in English and journalism. She began putting these skills to work in the field of dementia while serving as the primary caregiver for her ever-cheerful mother, who died of Alzheimer's disease in 1996.Kathy is the author of two additional books,Alzheimer's Basic Caregiving--An ABC GuideandActivities of Daily Living--An ADL Guide for Alzheimer's Care.