This book synthesizes the expanding literature on coping styles and strategies by analyzing how individuals with CID face challenges, find and use their strengths, and alter their environment to fit their life-changing realities. The book includes up-to-date information on coping with high-profile conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, spinal cord injuries, and traumatic brain injury, in-depth coverage of HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, and severe mental illness, and more.

Fully updated and refreshed to reflect current knowledge, data and perspectives

To help families manage an intense medical-related event, Power and Dell Orto propose that a family-oriented life and living perspective should be combined with a family intervention philosophy. Stressing acknowledgment of the adverse effects of the illness and an affirmation approach to family struggle and opportunities, the authors explore issues relevant to treatment, family adaptation, quality of life, and family survival. A unique feature of the text includes the organization of the chapters around thought-provoking personal statements followed by questions/experiential tasks designed to stimulate thought and discussion. This book is must reading for health and allied health professionals including physicians, nurses, rehabilitation counselors, social workers, psychologists, and family advocates and will serve as a useful textbook for professionals-in-training.

In the United States, chronic diseases currently account for 70 percent of all deaths, and close to 48 million Americans report a disability related to a chronic condition. Today, about one in four Americans have multiple diseases and the prevalence and burden of chronic disease in the elderly and racial/ethnic minorities are notably disproportionate. Chronic disease has now emerged as a major public health problem and it threatens not only population health, but our social and economic welfare. Living Well with Chronic Disease identifies the population-based public health actions that can help reduce disability and improve functioning and quality of life among individuals who are at risk of developing a chronic disease and those with one or more diseases. The book recommends that all major federally funded programmatic and research initiatives in health include an evaluation on health-related quality of life and functional status. Also, the book recommends increasing support for implementation research on how to disseminate effective longterm lifestyle interventions in community-based settings that improve living well with chronic disease. Living Well with Chronic Disease uses three frameworks and considers diseases such as heart disease and stroke, diabetes, depression, and respiratory problems. The book's recommendations will inform policy makers concerned with health reform in public- and private-sectors and also managers of communitybased and public-health intervention programs, private and public research funders, and patients living with one or more chronic conditions.

This is the first comprehensive estate-planning guide for those living with a chronic disease or disability. This book is targeted at those planning for the disbursement of their estates, no matter their size. Estate-planning is crucial for those living with a chronic disease or disability: individuals must express their preferences whether to receive long-term care at home rather than in a nursing home in the event that they become more disabled, and it is more important for one who has a chronic illness to name a power of attorney. Estate Planning for People with a Chronic Condition or Disability covers all of those topics plus: How to write your will How to determine how much life insurance your family needs How to figure out whether you need a living trust Learn about powers of attorney When to work with a lawyer, if you need to The book also includes downloadable sample forms for: Power of Attorney Living Will Designation of Proxy for Financial and Health Decisions

Painâ€"it is the most common complaint presented to physicians. Yet pain is subjectiveâ€"it cannot be measured directly and is difficult to validate. Evaluating claims based on pain poses major problems for the Social Security Administration (SSA) and other disability insurers. This volume covers the epidemiology and physiology of pain; psychosocial contributions to pain and illness behavior; promising ways of assessing and measuring chronic pain and dysfunction; clinical aspects of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation; and how the SSA's benefit structure and administrative procedures may affect pain complaints.

Comfort, understanding, and advice for those who are suffering--and those who care for them. Chronic illness creates many challenges, from career crises and relationship issues to struggles with self-blame, personal identity, and isolation. Beloved author Toni Bernhard addresses these challenges and many more, using practical examples to illustrate how mindfulness, equanimity, and compassion can help readers make peace with a life turned upside down. In her characteristic conversational style, Bernhard shows how to cope and make the most of life despite the challenges of chronic illness. Benefit from: • Mindfulness exercises to mitigate physical and emotional pain • Concrete advice for negotiating the everyday hurdles of medical appointments, household chores, and social obligations • Tools for navigating the strains illness can place on relationships Several chapters are directed toward family and friends of the chronically ill, helping them to understand what their loved one is going through and how they can help. Humorous and empathetic, Bernhard shares her own struggles and setbacks with unflinching honesty, offering invaluable support in the search to find peace and well-being.