Case Studies in Palliative and End-of-Life Care uses a case-based approach to provide students and practitioners with an important learning tool to improve critical thinking skills and encourage discussion toward improving experiences for patients and their families. The book is organized into three sections covering subjects related to communication, symptom management, and family care. Each case is presented in a consistent, logical format for ease of use, highlighting key evidence-based concepts including the case history, care setting, diagnosis and prognosis, assessment, treatment considerations, and family support. A key reference, Case Studies in Palliative and End-of-Life Care is an invaluable resource for clinicians who provide palliative care to patients with life-limiting illnesses and those at the end of life along with their families.

Janet's skill in this book lies in her ability to combine theory with narrative and natural science with humanity to create a text that resonates deeply.bringing to light the message that intellectual knowledge is nothing if not accompanied by sensitive delivery and humanity. Mary Kiely in the Foreword This practical thought-provoking guide provides the unemotional clear and accurate advice necessary for communicating with patients in a palliative care setting. Completely up to date this book includes new initiatives born of the End of Life Care Strategy (2008) and details the ethics of key issues in palliative care. Crucially it considers the fine art of communication - the pivotal aspect of being a palliative care expert that is so difficult to quantify and teach. It uses genuine anecdotes and case studies to bring theory to life and assist in everyday application. Communication in Palliative Care is a wide-ranging invaluable resource for palliative care professionals across all clinical settings.

Compassionate communities are communities that provide assistance for those in need of end of life care, separate from any official heath service provision that may already be available within the community. This idea was developed in 2005 in Allan Kellehear’s seminal volume- Compassionate Cities: Public Health and End of Life Care. In the ensuing ten years the theoretical aspects of the idea have been continually explored, primarily rehearsing academic concerns rather than practical ones. Compassionate Communities: Case Studies from Britain and Europe provides the first major volume describing and examining compassionate community experiments in end of life care from a highly practical perspective. Focusing on community development initiatives and practice challenges, the book offers practitioners and policy makers from the health and social care sectors practical discussions on the strengths and limitations of such initiatives. Furthermore, not limited to providing practice choices the book also offers an important and timely impetus for other practitioners and policy makers to begin thinking about developing their own possible compassionate communities. An essential read for academic, practitioner, and policy audiences in the fields of public health, community development, health social sciences, aged care, bereavement care, and hospice & palliative care, Compassionate Communities is one of only a handful of available books on end of life care that takes a strong health promotion and community development approach.

For patients and their loved ones, no care decisions are more profound than those made near the end of life. Unfortunately, the experience of dying in the United States is often characterized by fragmented care, inadequate treatment of distressing symptoms, frequent transitions among care settings, and enormous care responsibilities for families. According to this report, the current health care system of rendering more intensive services than are necessary and desired by patients, and the lack of coordination among programs increases risks to patients and creates avoidable burdens on them and their families. Dying in America is a study of the current state of health care for persons of all ages who are nearing the end of life. Death is not a strictly medical event. Ideally, health care for those nearing the end of life harmonizes with social, psychological, and spiritual support. All people with advanced illnesses who may be approaching the end of life are entitled to access to high-quality, compassionate, evidence-based care, consistent with their wishes. Dying in America evaluates strategies to integrate care into a person- and family-centered, team-based framework, and makes recommendations to create a system that coordinates care and supports and respects the choices of patients and their families. The findings and recommendations of this report will address the needs of patients and their families and assist policy makers, clinicians and their educational and credentialing bodies, leaders of health care delivery and financing organizations, researchers, public and private funders, religious and community leaders, advocates of better care, journalists, and the public to provide the best care possible for people nearing the end of life.

Nurses often develop long-term relationships with the patients and families for whom they care; providing quality care until the end of life is absolutely fundamental to nursing. This important book provides the guidelines and tools necessary to provide this care. -- Publisher description.

With the number of people requiring palliative and end of life care steadily increasing, it is the responsibility of every nurse, regardless of specialism, to know how to provide high quality care to this group of people. Yet caring for those nearing the end of life can throw up complex issues, including handling bereavement, cultural and ethical issues, delivering care in a wide variety of settings, symptom management and also ensuring your own emotional resilience. This book is specifically designed to equip nursing students and non-specialists with the essential knowledge in relation to the care and management of people nearing the end of life.

Handbook of Nutrition and Diet in Palliative Care, Second Edition, is a comprehensive guide, providing exhaustive information on nutrition and diet in terminal and palliative care. It covers physical, cultural and ethical aspects, bridging the intellectual divide in being suitable for novices and experts alike. Following in the tradition of its predecessor, chapters contain practical methods, techniques, and guidelines along with a section on applications to other areas of palliative care. Each chapter features key facts highlighting important areas, summary points, and ethical issues. FEATURES • Use of cannabinoids in palliative nutrition care • Pain control in palliative care • Communications in palliative/end-of-life care: aspects of bad news • Anorexia in cancer: appetite, physiology, and beyond • Palliative care in severe and enduring eating disorders • Linking food supplementation and palliative care in HIV • Eating-related distress in terminally ill cancer patients and their family members • Palliative care of gastroparesis • Preoperative nutrition assessment and optimization in the cancer patient • Childhood leukemia, malnutrition, and mortality as components of palliative care • End-of-life decisions in persons with neurodevelopmental disorders • Resources: listing web sites, journals, books and organizations