This paper is based on a speech that was first presented in June, 1981 at the Social Work Clinic Day at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto by the late Walter Lyons, then Director of Baycrest's Department of Education.

First published as a report in 1984, it has become widely read and has been reproduced many times. The National Advisory Council on Aging has reviewed its contents and has found that although medical research on Alzheimer's disease is now more advanced, no similar publication is available. The author's discussion of the problems caused by chronic irreversible brain damage remains as compelling a reading today as it was over a decade ago.

Lyons' narrative of the family's reactions when one of its members has Alzheimer's disease and his description of the patient's expectations and those of the spouse clearly show that he favours the human aspects over clinical considerations. He addresses the reader as the patient, the spouse and the social worker.

The Council is indebted to the late Walter Lyons for use of his material. No doubt everyone, whether lay person or specialist, will benefit from the lessons offered.

John E. MacDonell, M.D., FRCP(C) Chairperson

Your free copy of NACA's "Writing in Gerontology No. 4 Coping and Helping With Alzheimer's Disease", is currently available online in:

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National Advisory Council on Aging
Address locator: 1908A1
Ottawa, ON
K1A 1B4

Tel.: 613-957-1968
Fax : 613-957-9938
E-mail: info@naca-ccnta.ca