In Visited Mom Today, John Scully shares the secret to connecting with those suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
When John's mother was diagnosed with Alzeimer's disease in 2008, he and his five siblings began overseeing her care. Three years later, they made the difficult decision to place her in a nursing home, where they could visit several times a week. Those visits were the impetus of his book, Visited Mom Today: Conversations through the Lens of Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
John saw first-hand the agitation, the discomfort, and the loneliness the residents experience as they drift in and out of the world we know, to one we—and they—cannot fully understand. He observed how staff interacted with the residents, who suffered from dementia in varying degrees, and discovered that the connection lies in stepping into their world, instead of reminding them what is no longer possible in this one. John’s conversations with dozens of residents will have you laughing out loud, tearing up, and reflecting on your own life experiences. Most of all, Visited Mom Today shows you that personalities and memories made in our core beings cannot be fully erased by the fierceness of dementia.
A graduate of Curry College, John worked for radio and television stations for the first 8 years of his career. For 30 years after that he worked for an advertising agency, the last 7 of which, as President. John retired in 2019 and is a volunteer End of Life Doula with Middlesex Health Hospice Program in Middletown CT.
