Senior Health Books

Beautiful organization, research examples to support common-sense recommendations, case studies with pictures, this superb book is the first stop for the healing garden designer. The case studies and design recommendations are grouped by health care setting, which makes the reading more focused. By far the best professional text on the topic.

Conclusion:
Despite it's flaws, it is probably the best textbook available on Healing Gardens.

Pros:
Clear advice to help landscape architects design healing gardens.

A comprehensive discussion of theory.

Cons:
If you want a picture book, this is not for you.

No evidence-based design (because there isn't any)

My first impression of this book was not good. I am a visual person and I wanted to see some large full-color pictures of healing gardens. Instead, most of the images were back & white, small and of mediocre quality.

Many of the images appear to have been taken by amateurs and the inexpensive printing on non-glossy paper did not help.

Yes there is a 14-page glossy color insert in the center of the book, but the snapshots shown were tiny, with 3 or 4 clustered on each page. There was no clear connection from the text to these images.

Site plans are critical to landscape gardening. There were only 35 site plans in this book of 610 pages and like the photographs, they too were small; typically about 4 x 4-inches each and none were in color.

The book's subtitle "Therapeutic Benefits..." and the use of Roger Ulrich as the author of Chapter Two suggests that evidence-based design will be central but it seems that there is not much good research to draw from. Ulrich writes "... very little research directly relevant to gardens has used the types of experimental-scientific methods that are considered sound and persuasive...".

Instead of evidence we have to consider the advice of experts and certainly the two main authors: Clarie Cooper Marcus and Marni Barnes are experts. They also happen to be very good writers. They have clear suggestions for a wide range of healing gardens. They have separate chapters focusing on:
* Acute Care Hospitals
* Psychiatric Hospitals
* Children's Hospitals
* Nursing Homes
* Hospices
* Alzheimer's Facilities

Chapter 11 is called "Getting it Done" and it offers practical advice based on several case studies. It discusses funding and implementation in ways that would be very useful to someone who was meeting with resistance from the hospital administration.

At the end of every chapter there are several pages of references. For those in an academic setting these would be useful.

I might have missed it, but one thing I did not find in the book was: how to deal with gardens when plants are dormant. The two main authors are from the Bay area where the growing season is year-round. However, much of the rest of the planet has distinct seasons. Is it really "healing" to look out into a garden devoid of vegetation for several months a year?

Creo que es un buen punto de partida para comenzar a incluir en el diseño del entorno y el paisaje pautas que incluyan un beneficio directo en la salud de quienes lo contemplan.

With the help of this book, I've discovered that I was taking wrong medicines together. Sometimes I "doctor" myself with over-the-counter medicines... that shouldn't have been taken with prescription ones. Because of your book, I pay more attention to the side effects and am not so afraid when some of them show up. Thanks for caring about us "old folk".

This book is an overview of the different kinds of living situations for seniors who need help with daily activities. It describes different types of facilities, such as retirement communities, assisted living, and nursing homes, and includes checklists of questions you may want to ask if you are evaluating a place for yourself or a loved one. It does not contain any information specific to any part of New Jersey. It doesn't have listings of facilities. A better title would be "Senior Living & Eldercare Options in the US".

Just as I remembered from childhood. As a medical professional and a new grandmother, I hope to someday introduce my little granddaughter to this nursing series. I was really excited to discover these books being re-issued. Yes, they are dated, WWII era, but many of the books in the series were dated when I first read them in the early '60's.

As a classic "golf widow", and one who just can't understand the fascination with the sport, I found all manner of enlightening information, and answers to injury and stress-related questions in this handy book. My husband bought it and loved it, but I never thought I would learn anything - but I did! Simple to understand and quick to read, this is one book I would recommend to every golfer and the "widows" who love them!

Quite useful as a textbook, easy to understand and very helpful to beginners.

Has a whole section on understanding the basis of our strength with diagrams of the muscular system of the human body. Good reading.

I'm an ACE-certified personal trainer and was looking for some good information and new exercises to use with my client who is in their 60s. This book took basic strength training exercises and had a picture of a senior doing the exercise. Nothing in this book was new to me. If you are a physically active senior, this book may be all right for you. If you are a senior who has been sedentary or who is looking to improve upon daily activities of living, this book may not be right for you.

I'd recommend the version meant for the end user, however, unless you are actually an instructor. I got both but it was redundant. The core stuff for the weight lifter is in both books. Key thing is that it is very convincing that older folk, those above say 50, can and should do weight lifting. It's a good addition to all the other good stuff you should be doing. This book eases nubie's like myself, into weightlifting, even if we opt to use set equipment rather than free weights. Both free weights and other gym equipment is portrayed in this book.

What a disappointment! I should have looked at the original publishing date. Probably at the time it first came out some of this information was new, but there was nothing in this book that hasn't been said in a thousand other places.

If you or someone you love have ever:
Forgotten where you put your keys, your bank's name.
Misplaced a thought in the middle of a sentence.
Lost a word that was on the tip of your tongue.
Drawn a blank on your best friend's name.
Wondered if something you were eating or any of the drugs you were taking might affect the way your remember--then this basic book will help you identify some of the causes.

Health is something that we create from the inside of our body. The techniques described in this book suggest pathways that can create a healthy brain, and keep our memory sharp.

Small book with good information on gentle yoga for older people. Written by someone with experience showing a slower, simple way to practice basic yoga postures. Photos show an actual senior doing the poses. Sometimes books are written for seniors or gentle yoga and still have a 20 year in a pretzel position. This is a very nice realistic book for someone who would like a simple practice. Spiral bound and easy to use. A nice editon for anyones yoga book library.

I am a yoga teacher who has purchased many yoga books over the years and this one is not very good. The black and white pictures are blurry and not professional quality. There are not enought safety cues either for a new student. Put your money elsewhere!