Dr. Elizabeth Jane Peskin Tierney, class of 1960, publishes her latest book, Dignifying Dementia: A Caregiver’s Struggle (Oak Tree Press), is the most personal; it was written to support caregivers and to remind members of the healthcare field how important compassion can be.
Elizabeth Jane Peskin Tierney, class of 1960, received her PhD from Fordham University. Dr. Tierney has worked in education as a teacher, administrator, assistant superintendent, and as an assistant professor on the business faculty at University College Dublin for six years. She has a daughter, Ellen, who lives in Portland Oregon and two grandchildren. She has published several books (mainly about communication) including: ShowTime! Selling Yourself, Business Ethics and How to Give Effective Presentations.
Her latest book, Dignifying Dementia: A Caregiver’s Struggle, is the most personal; it was written to support caregivers and to remind members of the healthcare field how important compassion can be. Her husband, Jim was diagnosed with dementia in 1997 and died at home in 2006. During that time she occasionally jotted down notes- with no reason other than to get thoughts out of her head. Some were about their life when he was well; others were about financial concerns; others were about disappointing or amazing members of the healthcare profession. An inveterate movie goer, Elizabeth grouped them in files called, "The Way We Were," "The Color of Money" and the last file was the biggest, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." The papers remained in a box until last year when her friend looked at a few pages and said, "Write the book." She did, and it was published by Oak Tree Press and released this fall.
Cases of dementia are increasing, and, as the prologue says, the book was written to help caregivers feel less frustrated and lonely, and the book also seeks to remind members of the healthcare community that dementia victims and their families are deserving of respect. The web site is: www.dignifyingdementia.com, and the book is available through the link as an ebook, paperback or hardback or can be purchased through or from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or ordered through most bookstores.
Elizabeth was interviewed by NPR on WAMC on Joe Donahue’s The Roundtable on December 12th 2011 at 10:05 AM about her latest book. You can find the audio of the interview here.