When Arlene Schollaert, LCSW, the Family Services Director at Amazing Place, led a session at The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration national conference a couple of years ago, she didn’t realize that the wife of actor Bruce Willis was in the audience. Emma Heming Willis visited with Arlene afterwards and the two conversed openly about her challenges with Bruce’s diagnosis and her role as a dementia caregiver. Arlene and Emma have stayed in touch ever since.

When Emma decided to author a book to help other caregivers navigate a loved one’s dementia, she asked Arlene to contribute to The Unexpected Journey, a New York Times bestseller. The book is a roadmap for dementia caregivers, told through Emma’s own story of navigating the challenges of her husband’s diagnosis. The pages are filled with the expertise and advice of many dementia experts, including Arlene.

“This is a remarkable guide for anyone who needs to find strength, hope and understanding as a dementia caregiver,” says Arlene. “Knowledge is power when it comes to caregiving because it helps reframe your situation so you can become more proactive and prepared. That’s why the advice in this book from Emma and the national dementia experts she enlisted is so helpful.”

Arlene’s words of wisdom can be found in the book’s section, Bringing in Help. An important thread found throughout the book is that you don’t have to take this journey by yourself. Arlene stresses that building a community and having people in your corner is a key to self-care, finding hope and smart decisions.

Assessing when it’s time to get help is tricky, according to Arlene, but in The Unexpected Journey she points to some questions caregivers should ask themselves. These include “if the person was in the house alone and there was a fire, would they know how to get out?,”  “can you get seven to eight hours of sleep a night?,” and “have you lost connections with family and friends?”

Please extend congratulations to Arlene when you see her. We hope you can find time to read The Unexpected Journey, which is now on sale at bookstores and on Amazon. You can also learn more about Emma’s story from her interview with Diane Sawyer now streaming on Hulu and Disney+: Emma and Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey – A Diane Sawyer Special – ABC.com .