Questions that face dying individuals, their families, and the professionals that help them at the end of their lives are explored in this volume. The contributors help the reader to come to terms with issues of mortality complicated by the diversity of cultures within society.

"Cultural Issues in End-of-Life Decision Making creates an engrossing tension as chapters on philosophical topics are interwoven with clinically-oriented ones including case examples that ground the reader in the reality of most human decisions. I highly recommend this book to researchers, health care providers, clergy, and other practitioners dealing with end-of-life issues." ---Catherine Hagan Hennessy, Health Care and Aging Studies Branch, Center for Disease Control and Prevention End-of-life decision making is one of the most difficult but crucial challenges faced by patients and their families. In most cases, resources or counselors providing guidance in these decisions are not available. This book is intended to prepare nurses, physicians, and other health care workers to fill this role, insofar as they are most frequently in contact with the patient and his/her family and significant others at the time choices must be made. In this informative, practical book, Braun, Pietsch, and Blanchette first review the medical, legal, and ethical context of the dying experience, discussing ethnic perspectives and religious issues. For example, providing cultural and spiritually sensitive care requires that nurses, physicians, social work and others know and understand the implications of family members beliefs about life and death, supportive rituals and other activities. This book does a creditable job of presenting the issues and a broad overview of culture and common religions in America. About the Editors: Kathryn L. Braun, Dr.P.H., is Director of the University of Hawaii Center on Aging and an Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii School of Public Health. She is a Fellow in the Gerontological Society of American and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. James H. Pietsch, J.D., is Director of the University of Hawaii Elder Law Program (UHELP), an Associate Professor at the William S. Richardson School of Law, and a Clinical Adjunct Professor at the John A. Burns School of Medicine. In 1990, he was the recipient of the Fifth Annual Paul Lichterman Memorial Award for contributions to the advancement of Law and Aging. Patricia L. Blanchette, M.D., M.P.H., is a Professor of Medicine and Public Health at the John A. Burns School of Medicine and School of Public Health at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Dr. Blanchette is the Director of the Medical School′s cross-departmental Geriatric Medicine Program, and Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program, the Pacific Islands Geriatric Education Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Blanchette has won numerous awards and honors, including an Excellence in Teaching Award, Distinguished Alumni, Best Doctors in America, and the Soroptimist′s Women of Distinction Award.

Experts analyze death-related issues and policies in twelve countries, discussing health care costs, advance directives, pain management, cultural, social, and religious factors, and other topics.

'Social Aspects of Care' provides an overview of financial and mental stress illness places, not just on the patient, but on the family as well. This volume contains information on how to support families in palliative care, cultural considerations important in end-of-life care, sexuality and the impactof illness, planning for the actual death, and bereavement.

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.

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from 3rd Party sellers are not guaranteed by the Publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. A Comprehensive Handbook of Cancer Pain Management in Developing Countries Written by an international panel of expert pain physicians, A Comprehensive Handbook of Cancer Pain Management in Developing Countries addresses this challenging and vital topic with reference to the latest body of evidence relating to cancer pain. It thoroughly covers pain management in the developing world, explaining the benefit of psychological, interventional, and complementary therapies in cancer pain management, as well as the importance of identifying and overcoming regulatory and educational barriers.

When the end of life makes its inevitable appearance, people should be able to expect reliable, humane, and effective caregiving. Yet too many dying people suffer unnecessarily. While an "overtreated" dying is feared, untreated pain or emotional abandonment are equally frightening. Approaching Death reflects a wide-ranging effort to understand what we know about care at the end of life, what we have yet to learn, and what we know but do not adequately apply. It seeks to build understanding of what constitutes good care for the dying and offers recommendations to decisionmakers that address specific barriers to achieving good care. This volume offers a profile of when, where, and how Americans die. It examines the dimensions of caring at the end of life: Determining diagnosis and prognosis and communicating these to patient and family. Establishing clinical and personal goals. Matching physical, psychological, spiritual, and practical care strategies to the patient's values and circumstances. Approaching Death considers the dying experience in hospitals, nursing homes, and other settings and the role of interdisciplinary teams and managed care. It offers perspectives on quality measurement and improvement, the role of practice guidelines, cost concerns, and legal issues such as assisted suicide. The book proposes how health professionals can become better prepared to care well for those who are dying and to understand that these are not patients for whom "nothing can be done."