Reviews

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Ellen Goodman
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and founder of The Conversation Project
"Jody Gastfriend has created the ultimate GPS for family caregivers. At once humane and helpful, personal and political, she charts the long, hard, and rewarding role that all of us will take caring for our families and each other. Don't leave home without it!"
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Patrick O’Malley
Author of Getting Grief Right: Finding Your Story of Love in the Sorrow of Loss
“Jody Gastfriend unflinchingly tackles a complex aspect of eldercare in each chapter of My Parent’s Keeper. She has masterfully blended essential facts with exceptional psychological insight to create an indispensable resource for family caregivers.”
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John Zeisel
Author of I’m Still Here: A New Philosophy of Alzheimer’s Care
“Jody Gastfriend’s clearly written My Parent’s Keeper raises in the reader important questions about the human rights dilemma: On the one hand “supported decision making” in which care partners – children, spouses, geriatric care managers – help people living with dementia express their own needs and decisions related to lifestyle and risk; on the other, “substitute decision making” where care givers take over decisions in the name of safety, asserting that they know what’s best for those they love and care for.”
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Laurie M. Orlov
Author of When Your Parents Need Elder Care: Lessons from the Front Lines
“My Parent's Keeper shines a light on the conundrum of caregiving—as adult children, our best intentions are insufficient to help our parents and ourselves. We need a plan in advance of need—this book offers up-to-date guideposts for this inevitable caregiving journey."
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Harry Haroutunian
Author of Being Sober and Not As Prescribed
“Caregiving is a noble cause. The responsibilities are enormous. This book helps guide us through the pitfalls when one takes on this duty, which is both a curse and a blessing for the child caring for a parent.”
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Meryl Comer
President of the Geoffrey Beene Alzheimer’s Initiative, author of Slow Dancing with a Stranger: Lost and Found in the Age of Alzheimer’s
“Jody Gastfriend's My Parent's Keeper offers definitive testament to how the slow, destructive force of Alzheimer’s disease disrupts generations and challenges families caring for loved ones with dementia. It is a must-read and a wake-up call to the public/private sectors who serve our aging population."
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Gary Kennedy
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
“Jody Gastfriend’s use of humor and pathos without bitterness or self-pity makes this book an easy read. The tone is conversational—never condescending, never combative—even when describing the ‘maze’ that health care has become and the limitations of existing policies.”
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Richard Marottoli
Dorothy Adler Geriatric Assessment Center, Yale–New Haven Hospital, Yale University
“Jody Gastfriend successfully weaves illustrative vignettes with practical advice to help adult children navigate the challenges of caring for aging/ill parents, focusing on potentially rewarding aspects of this often-difficult task.”