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Hands That Help

by Seoyeon Kim

Trinity Books · October 30, 2026

A calm, kind and practical companion for anyone who looks after an older person at home.

Reading time: About 3 h 20 min (at 230 words a minute)

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Cover of Hands That Help

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Length202 pages

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Details

AuthorSouth Korea Seoyeon Kim
CategoryAging and caregiving / The second half of life / Health basics / Marriage and family relationships
Language of the bookEnglish
PublishedOctober 30, 2026
Length202 pages
Product numberTB-W0006-EN
Reading timeAbout 3 h 20 min (at 230 words a minute)
Print-ready PDFA5 · interior PDF and cover PDF (with bleed: two versions, 3 mm and 3.175 mm, can be downloaded.) · 202 pages

Categories of this book

CategoriesHealth and bodyAging and caregiving

CategoriesSelf-help and workThe second half of life

CategoriesHealth and bodyHealth basics

CategoriesSelf-help and workMarriage and family relationships

About this book

A warm, clear guide to caring for an older person at home — how the body and mind change in later life, safe moving, meals, washing, the toilet and the night, working with doctors and nurses, sharing the work as a family and looking after yourself — told through the common situations that so many families meet.

The basic knowledge of home care, explained gently, for the hands that help every day.

Care often begins quietly: a parent who needs a little help with the shopping, a husband who holds the handrail a little longer, a grandfather who asks the same question twice. Little by little, someone in the family becomes a carer. This book is for that person, and for everyone around them.

In fifteen chapters it explains what nurses and care workers learn in their training and sets it in the ordinary rooms where care happens: the kitchen, the bathroom, the hallway at night. How later life changes the body and the mind, what dementia means, how to talk and listen with respect, how to make the home safe, how to help someone stand and walk without hurting either of you, and how to make meals, washing, the toilet and sleep easier and kinder.

Later chapters turn to appointments and a simple care notebook, the signs that mean calling the emergency number, family talks, help from outside the home and gentle care at the end of life. A whole chapter is about the carer: rest, respite and asking for help in time. Every chapter opens with a common situation and closes with one question to think about.

After reading this book, you will be able to…

  • Understand the usual changes of later life and notice the ones worth telling a doctor or nurse about
  • Help someone stand, walk, wash, dress and eat safely while they do as much as they can themselves
  • Make the home safer, especially the bathroom, the stairs and the way to the toilet at night
  • Keep a care notebook and be ready for appointments and emergencies
  • Share the work as a family, find the help that exists where you live and take care of yourself too

Contents

  • Hands That Help
  • Before You Begin
  • Chapter 1: When Care Begins at Home
    1. A Common Situation
    2. How Care Often Begins
    3. The Everyday Activities of Life
    4. Supporting What the Person Can Still Do
    5. The Circle of Care
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 2: How the Body Changes With Age
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Seeing, Hearing, Taste and Smell
    3. Skin, Muscles, Bones and Balance
    4. The Heart, Breathing, Digestion and the Bladder
    5. Sleep, and Slow or Sudden Change
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 3: Feelings, Memory and the Changing Mind
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Feelings in Later Life
    3. Ordinary Forgetfulness and Memory Problems
    4. What Dementia Means
    5. Responding With Patience
    6. A Question to Think About
More
  • Chapter 4: Talking, Listening and Respect
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Getting Ready to Talk
    3. Listening to the Feelings Behind Words
    4. Choices, Privacy and the Right to Decide
    5. When the Answer Is No
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 5: A Home That Is Safe and Easy
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Light, Floors and Clear Paths
    3. The Bathroom, the Stairs and the Feet
    4. Warmth, Fire and the Kitchen
    5. Changes Made Together, and After a Fall
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 6: Moving, Standing and Walking
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Why Staying Active Matters
    3. The Principles of Safe Helping
    4. Standing, Sitting, Walking and Moving From Bed to Chair
    5. Walking Aids, Changing Position and the Carer's Back
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 7: Meals, Drinks and Mealtimes
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Appetite, Taste and a Balanced Plate
    3. Drinking Enough Through the Day
    4. Safe Swallowing and a Healthy Mouth
    5. Mealtimes as Shared Time
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 8: Washing, Dressing and Personal Care
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Privacy, Dignity and Doing It Together
    3. Bathing and Showering Safely
    4. Caring for the Skin
    5. Hair, Nails, Shaving and Clothes
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 9: The Toilet, With Dignity
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Talking About It Calmly
    3. Making the Toilet Easy to Reach
    4. When Accidents Happen
    5. Drinks, Regular Habits and Changes Worth Mentioning
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 10: Sleep, Rest and the Shape of the Day
    1. A Common Situation
    2. How Sleep Changes in Later Life
    3. A Gentle Rhythm for the Day
    4. Evenings, Nights and Safety
    5. Days That Feel Worth Living
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 11: Working With Doctors, Nurses and Medicines
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Going to Appointments Together
    3. Keeping a Care Notebook
    4. Medicines in Daily Life
    5. When to Call the Emergency Number
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 12: Caring for the Carer
    1. A Common Situation
    2. The Weight That Carers Carry
    3. Rest Is Part of Good Care
    4. Respite: Time to Rest
    5. When Patience Runs Out
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 13: Family Talks and Sharing the Work
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Talking Before a Crisis
    3. Sharing the Work Fairly
    4. Writing Down Decisions, Money and Papers
    5. Disagreements and Young People at Home
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 14: Help From Outside the Home
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Where to Begin Asking
    3. Kinds of Help in Many Places
    4. Working Well With Care Workers
    5. When Home Care Becomes Too Much
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Chapter 15: The Later Stages and Saying Goodbye
    1. A Common Situation
    2. Comfort Care and the Person's Wishes
    3. Comfort at Home
    4. When the End Is Near
    5. Grief and the Life Afterwards
    6. A Question to Think About
  • Afterword
  • Reading This Book Together
  • Words Used in This Book
  • Where to Turn for Help
  • About the Information in This Book
  • Colophon

From the publisher

A calm, kind and practical companion for anyone who looks after an older person at home.

Books about caregiving often begin with systems, forms and lists. This one begins at the kitchen table. Each chapter opens with a moment that many families will recognise, a daughter who finds letters lying unopened on her mother's table, a son who sees a bruise after a trip on the hallway rug, a mother who grows restless every evening and asks when they are going home, and then explains, step by step, what is happening and what helps.

The knowledge is the solid basic knowledge of nursing and care work: supporting what the person can still do, safe ways to help someone move, preventing falls and pressure sores, drinking enough, swallowing safely, a calm rhythm for the day. It is explained in plain words, with respect for the older person at every turn: the book speaks of choices, privacy and dignity as naturally as it speaks of handrails and night lights.

What stays with the reader is its kindness towards the carer. Rest is treated as part of good care, asking for help as a strong act, and the hard feelings of caring, tiredness, guilt and impatience, as something shared by many. The question at the end of every chapter makes it a good book to read together as a family.

What we like

  • Fifteen chapters covering the whole of everyday care at home, from the first signs to the last stage of life
  • Every chapter opens with a common situation and ends with a question to think about
  • A whole chapter on the carer's own rest and well-being
  • A short list of care words and where to turn for help at the end of the book

Recommended for

  • Grown-up children, husbands and wives who care for someone at home
  • Family members who live far away and want to help
  • Older people who want to understand the care they may need, and anyone who expects to give care one day

When you are worried about a change in someone's health, talk to their doctor or nurse; for help with care, ask the official contact points where you live.

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You can buy any language edition on this page: choose it under “Language of the book” in the buy box above. Each language also has its own page.

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