Abstract

'This enjoyable novel captures "communal living". Everyday difficulties experienced by residents due to their age and health are more meaningful to the reader than a diagnostic inventory would be.' - Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice 'Uniquely for our library, a work of fiction focusing on older people who need care. This book tells the story of a young girl who begins work as a care worker in a residential home for older people many of whom have dementia. Aimed at teenagers and care workers of all ages, it creatively explores the problems of dementia.' - Ageing Matters When Gemma gets the job as a support worker at The Beacon, a residential unit with a difference, little does she realize how much impact she is to have on the lives of its residents and how they, in turn, will shape her own. Dividing her time between sailing in her boat Periwinkle, a parting gift from her boyfriend Adam, and her work at The Beacon, Gemma gets to know all the residents and their stories. But as winter arrives a dramatic storm and uncertainty over the future of the home threaten to disrupt the peace - can The Beacon survive? Showing how a caring community can be much more than a place where people wait to die, The Girl on the Shore is not just an absorbing tale - it's a `must read' for teenagers, adults of all ages, carers and all those with an older person in their life.
`This enjoyable novel captures `communal living'. Everyday difficulties experienced by residents due to their age and health are more meaningful to the reader than a diagnostic inventory would be.'
Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice
`Uniquely for our library, a work of fiction focusing on older people who need care. This book tells the story of a young girl who begins work as a care worker in a residential home for older people many of whom have dementia. Aimed at teenagers and care workers of all ages, it creatively explores the problems of dementia.'
Ageing Matters
F.M. Hughes is a psychologist with many years' experience of working with older people. The Hughes family go sailing together every summer.