The organization Dementia Action Alliance (DAA) has released an updated version of “Pathways to Well-Being with Dementia,” a manual of practical tools, strategies, and insights to support well-being with dementia.

The guide is available at the DAA’s website for download as a PDF at no cost; hard-copy paperback copies can be ordered from the website. AFTD is recognized as a Manual Partner of the updated publication.

Written from the perspective of more than 60 persons diagnosed, caregivers, and dementia experts, the book includes useful guidance and information on all forms of dementia, as well as information pertaining specifically to FTD.

Laurie Scherrer, a DAA board member who has FTD, served on the steering committee for the guide’s production, and contributed sections such as “What I Wish the Doctor Told Us,” “Dementia Does Not Define Me,” and “The Four E’s of Finding Purpose.”

Scherrer spoke at the 2019 FTD Education Conference, and was also profiled by the New York Times several years ago. In the book, she uses a Christmas-tree analogy to describe FTD’s impact on her as a person. “Imagine that some of the lights don’t work and a few of the ornaments have been removed. The Christmas tree is still beautiful and serves a purpose,” she writes.

Chapters in the 470-page book include “Well-Being—Your North Star,” “Technology Supports,” “Care Partnering,” and “Emotional, Psychological and Functional Health.”