We Need to Talk About Ageing (Melissa Levi, Hachette)

Melissa Levi is a clinical psychologist who intended to specialise in paediatric medicine. It’s a happy accident that she ended up helping the ageing instead. With We Need to Talk About Ageing, Levi’s intention is to bring the disparate diseases, conditions and care needs of older people together in one place—to create a manual as well as a guidebook. This is a book as full of heart as it is help. Levi weaves her own story through the narrative, as her own zieda, her grandfather, navigates Alzheimer’s. There are many practical insights in this book, all of them delivered in a relatable way, from the sort of psychologist you’d love your ageing parents to meet. We learn that it’s never too late for a diagnosis, as one of Levi’s clients finds she has late-onset bipolar disorder. Levi also channels modern thought leaders and gives advice about vulnerability, creating a medical ‘dream team’, how to have difficult conversations, and the right for everyone to choose how they share their diagnosis with friends and family. Levi’s aim is to have a copy of this book in each home in Australia. To that end, helpfully, We Need to Talk About Ageing is easy to read and pitched at people who want to know how to help. This book is a guiding hand from a knowledgeable, understanding friend.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Rebecca Whitehead is a freelance writer from Melbourne. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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Category: Reviews