Neuropalliative Care, Part One, Volume 190 covers a type of care that is given when there is no cure for the neurological disorder and the patient is in distress. It provides a scholarly background of neuropalliative care, from historic underpinnings to its practice in various geographical regions, along with best practices for specific neurological disorders. It covers the work of multi or interdisciplinary teams whose care is intended to make the patient as comfortable as possible and includes partners and families in treatment plans.

When Professionals Weep speaks to the humbling and often transformational moments that clinicians experience in their careers as caregivers and healers-moments when it is often hard to separate the influence of our own emotional responses and worldviews from the patient's or family's. When ProfessionalsWeep addresses these poignant moments-when the professional's personal experiences with trauma, illness, death, and loss can subtly, often stealthily, surface and affect the helping process. This edition, like the first, both validates clinicians' experiences and also helps them process and productively address compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. New material in the second edition includes increased emphasis on the burgeoning fields of hospice and palliative care, organizational countertransference, mindfulness, and compassionate practice. It includes thought-provoking cases, self-assessments, and exercises that can be used on an individual, dyadic, or group basis. This volume is an invaluable handbook for practitioners in the fields of medicine, mental health, social work, nursing, chaplaincy, the allied health sciences, psychology, and psychiatry.

Full of practical, evidence based advice, 'Heart Failure and Palliative Care' encourages a multidisciplinary team based approach. It stimulates joint working between primary care, cardiology and palliative care teams - raising awareness of the problems associated with supportive and palliative care for heart failure patients. The second edition has been significantly revised and updated with brand new chapters and sections on shared decision making, advance care planning, devices, ACP and non-LVSD failure. 'Heart Failure and Palliative Care' offers optimum care solutions vital to all palliative care professionals in a wide variety of hospital and community settings.

This book draws together the learning of a wide range of social workers and other professionals engaged in end of life care who recognise that dying is essentially a social experience and want to tailor a personal, professional and societal response accordingly. Through a systemic lens, the book explores the nature and experience of living and dying in the UK today, then considers ways in which social workers and others may want to work with people who are affected by a diagnosis of a life-threatening condition. The contributors offer rich and contemporary perspectives on death, dying and loss, reflective of their different approaches and interests. The insights of the book are timely, given the growing levels and changing nature of needs for people who are coming to the end of their life in the UK and beyond, and the related requirements for compassionate, personalised and holistic care within the increasingly professionalised arena of health and social care. This book will be of interest to social work practitioners, students, and others committed to psychosocial support of people who are dying or bereaved, and who want to consider how to provide this support most effectively. Professionals who are interested in working alongside social workers to deliver high quality end of life care will also find this publication useful. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Social Work Practice.

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 to palliative care professionals across all clinical settings.

While palliative care has adopted a holistic approach to treatment, medication driven symptom management ostensibly forms the critical aspect of care. Prescribing in palliative care can be extremely complex because the patient may often have comorbidity, or occasionally multimorbidity. The associated polypharmacy further complicates the pharmacological management of symptoms being caused by the palliative condition. This can be daunting for healthcare professionals and can negatively impact upon the effectiveness of care provided. Fully revised and updated, the third edition of Drugs in Palliative Care provides an accessible and succinct overview of the main drugs that are encountered in palliative care clinical practice. The text begins by providing a clinical pharmacology overview and prescribing guidance, then contains over 160 monographs of palliative care drugs, in an easy to access A-Z format.

"Anne's contribution to our understanding of the needs of young people with cancer has been unparalleled and without her extraordinary insights our services would be that much poorer." From the foreword by Simon Davies, CEO Teenage Cancer Trust This topical and timely text provides valuable insights into the choices and experiences of palliative and end of life care for young people with cancer and other life limiting illnesses. With a focus on palliative care provision across a range of different clinical settings, this comprehensive new resource explores care in the home, the hospice and hospital. It looks at how and where families and young people can access palliative care, and what support is offered to attain their preferred place of death. Bereavement support for families is discussed, as well as a discussion of multi-disciplinary work, interagency co-operation and resource issues. This will be essential reading for community children's nurses, specialist palliative care teams, children's hospices, school nurses, social workers and student nurses as well as families. * A comprehensive resource on end of palliative are provision for children and young adults with cancer and other life limiting illnesses * Timely and topical, tying in with the latest Department of Health palliative care strategy Better Care: Better Lives' * Written in an accessible style that does not assume either detailed medical or theoretical knowledge * Explores palliative care provision in a range of different clinical settings including the home, hospice, and hospital * Provides valuable insights into the experiences of parents, children and young people

aThis is a beautifully written account from the front lines of a struggle between a federal drug war complex determined to keep demonizing marijuana and the growing movement of patients and doctors who have found marijuana to be a valuable medicine. Voters in California and many other states have strongly supported the patients. The moving stories in this book show why.a
--Craig Reinarman, co-author of "Crack in America: Demon Drugs and Social Justice"

aChapkis and Webb have done a masterful job in describing the intricacies of the drug debate and offer brilliant analysis on a complex and controversial subject. Both baby boomers and the current teenage population will find this book important and compelling reading.a
--Terry Williams, author of "Crackhouse: Notes from the End of the Line"

Marijuana as medicine has been a politically charged topic in this country for more than three decades. Despite overwhelming public support and growing scientific evidence of its therapeutic effects (relief of the nausea caused by chemotherapy for cancer and AIDS, control over seizures or spasticity caused by epilepsy or MS, and relief from chronic and acute pain, to name a few), the drug remains illegal under federal law.

In Dying to Get High, noted sociologists Wendy Chapkis and Richard J. Webb investigate one community of seriously-ill patients fighting the federal government for the right to use physician-recommended marijuana. Based in Santa Cruz, California, the Wo/Menas Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) is a unique patient-caregiver cooperative providing marijuana free of charge to mostly terminally ill members. For a brief period in 2004, it even operated the only legalnon-governmental medical marijuana garden in the country, protected by the federal courts against the DEA.

Using as their stage this fascinating profile of one remarkable organization, Chapkis and Webb tackle the broader, complex history of medical marijuana in America. Through compelling interviews with patients, public officials, law enforcement officers and physicians, Chapkis and Webb ask what distinguishes a legitimate patient from an illegitimate apothead, a agooda drugs from abad, a medicinal effects from ajust getting high.a Dying to Get High combines abstract argument and the messier terrain of how people actually live, suffer and die, and offers a moving account of what is at stake in ongoing debates over the legalization of medical marijuana.

Palliative care is within the remit of all health care professionals in any setting. "An Integrated Approach to Generic Palliative Care" is an accessible practical guide to the delivery of good palliative care, combining theory and practice, aimed at all members of the multidisplinary team. It explains and complements the government led End of Life Care programme which is being coordinated by Strategic health Authorities, incorporating the Gold Standards Framework, the Preferred Place of Care and the Liverpool Care Pathway.

An integrated approach is advocated throughout this book- in all sections the orthodox approach to treatments and care is discussed alongside a complementary approach. This text provides a highly practical approach to pain and symptom approach support including a pain assessment tool for the severely cognitively impaired and a detailed account on how to titrate morphine to individual patients. It also explores hope and spiritual pain showing that these two existential notions are actually part of every day practice.e

Life at Home for People with a Dementia provides an evidence-based and readable account of improving life at home for people with a dementia and their families. There are estimated to be 47 million people with a dementia worldwide, the majority of whom will live, or want to live, in their own home. Yet there is a major shortcoming in available knowledge on what life is like for people with a dementia living at home. Most research focuses on care in hospitals or care homes, and takes a medical perspective. This book bridges this gap in knowledge by providing a comprehensive and critical overview of the best available evidence on enabling people with a dementia to live well at home from the viewpoint of those living with the condition, and in the context of global policy drivers on ageing and health, as well as technological advances. The book includes chapters on citizenships - that is, the diversity of people living with a dementia - enabling life at home, rethinking self-management, the ethics and care of people with a dementia at home, technological care and citizenship, and sharing responsibilities. It concludes with a care manifesto in which we set out a vision for improving life at home for people with a dementia that covers the areas of professional practice, education and care research. By covering a wide range of interrelated topics to advance understanding and practice as to how people with a dementia from diverse backgrounds can be supported to live well at home, this book provides a synthesised, critical and readable understanding of the complexities and risks involved.

Structured around a personal account of the illness and death of the author's partner, Jane, this book explores how something hard to bear became a threshold to a world of insight and discovery. Drawing on German Idealism and Jane's own research in the area, The Aesthetic Experience of Dying looks at the notion of life as a binary synthesis, or a return enhanced, as a way of coming to understand death. Binary synthesis describes the interplay between dynamically opposing pairs of concepts - such as life and death - resulting in an enhanced version of one of them to move forward in a new cycle of the process. Yet what relevance does this elegant word game have to the shocking diagnosis of serious illness? Struggling to balance reason with sense, thought with feeling, this book examines the experience of caring for someone from diagnosis to death and is illustrated with examples of the return enhanced. The concluding chapter outlines how the tension of Jane's dying has been resolved as the rhythmic patterns of the lifeworld have been understood through the process of reflecting on the experience. This creative and insightful book will appeal to those interested in the medical humanities. It will also be an important reference for practising and student health professionals.

The Guest Editors have secured top experts in the area of palliative care to write current and clinically relevant articles. Articles in this issue are devoted to: Caring for LGBT Populations; Integrating Palliative Care into Primary Care; Pain Management in the Cognitively Impaired; Pain Management in the Client with Substance Use Disorder; Rituals at End of Life; Death Bed Phenomena; Family Care During End of Life; Palliative Wound Care; Pet-Assisted Therapy in Palliative Care; Palliative Sedation: State of the Science. Readers will come away with the updated information they need to provide state-of-the-art palliative care to their patients.

The third edition of Hospice and Palliative Care is the essential guide to the hospice and palliative care movement both within the United States and around the world. Chapters provide mental-health and medical professionals with a comprehensive overview of the hospice practice as well as discussions of challenges and the future direction of the hospice movement. Updates to the new edition include advances in spiritual assessment and care, treatment of prolonged and complicated grief, provision of interdisciplinary palliative care in limited-resource settings, significant discussion of assisted suicide, primary healthcare including oncology, and more. Staff and volunteers new to the field along with experienced care providers and those using hospice and palliative care services will find this essential reading.

Loss and Grief: Personal Stories of Doctors and Other Healthcare Professionals is a unique collection of personal narratives that chronicle the journeys of doctors and other healthcare professionals who have been personally impacted by life-altering losses. Edited by internationally recognized practitioners of supportive care medicine and grief counseling, these are unflinching, first-person narratives of authors walking in their own shoes. The narratives reveal losses of cherished loved ones, integrity, dreams, naive views of colleagues, and the lack of institutional support for these inevitable experiences. Although the narrators are well-established leaders in their fields, serious loss brought each back to the exposed core of their most basic selves. They learned that the professional veneer was too thin to be instructive or protective. Readers might resonate with their own painful experiences and memories, and others might wonder how they will imagine their own future when these inevitable aspects of being human-loss and grief-strike them, too. In Loss and Grief, it is our hope that such openly shared feelings of isolation and suffering will humanize the loss experience, ignite prospective discussions, and illuminate opportunities for education, research and interventions to prepare us for multiple loss experiences endemic to life.

In the Middle East, as in other countries in the developing world, there is now a wide acceptance that palliative care is an important public health issue that should be integrated into the mainstream of cancer care as well as other life-threatening diseases. Nowadays, it is recognised as a human right issue that patients and families have the right to receive this care. The WHO defined palliative care as the active total care of the patient's body, mind and spirit; whereby health care providers need to evaluate and alleviate the patient's physical, psychological and social distress. Such care encompasses a broad, multidisciplinary approach that includes both the family and the community and is provided in a range of settings, from the hospital, to the community health centre, to home. This unique and timely book captures the progress and vision of many dedicated groups throughout the Middle East and the USA who have been working to advocate for and develop palliative care services in the region. Each of the book's chapters describes the efforts and challenges professionals have been experiencing as they address the palliative care needs of patients with life-limiting illnesses. Each country's specific chapter details the current state of palliative care services and describes the various approaches that led to the development of a range of services in hospital-based sites to community and home-based care services.

This insightful study examines the deeply personal and heart-wrenching tensions among financial considerations, emotional attachments, and moral arguments that motivate end-of-life decisions. America's health care system was built on the principle that life should be prolonged whenever possible, regardless of the costs. This commitment has often meant that patients spend their last days suffering from heroic interventions that extend their life by only weeks or months. Increasingly, this approach to end-of-life care is coming under scrutiny, from a moral as well as a financial perspective. Sociologist Roi Livne documents the rise and effectiveness of hospice and palliative care, and growing acceptance of the idea that a life consumed by suffering may not be worth living. Values at the End of Life combines an in-depth historical analysis with an extensive study conducted in three hospitals, where Livne observed terminally ill patients, their families, and caregivers negotiating treatment. Livne describes the ambivalent, conflicted moments when people articulate and act on their moral intuitions about dying. Interviews with medical staff allowed him to isolate the strategies clinicians use to help families understand their options. As Livne discovered, clinicians are advancing the idea that invasive, expensive hospital procedures often compound a patient's suffering. Affluent, educated families were more readily persuaded by this moral calculus than those of less means. Once defiant of death-or even in denial-many American families and professionals in the health care system are beginning to embrace the notion that less treatment in the end may be better treatment.

This book encourages health professionals to reconceptualise their practice in the light of the fact that their patients are deteriorating and dying, supporting them in their dichotomous role which involves affirming that person's life whilst acknowledging that that life is ending. Professionals are encouraged to think laterally, to be creative in their use of their core skills, and to use their life skills and experience to change the focus of their interventions. By making these changes, those involved with caring for the dying will be able to address issues related to burnout and feeling de-skilled. The authors share their considerable experience with the reader - what works for both patient and carer/professional when working in this field. By providing workable solutions, they empower those in disempowering situations, such as when working with terminally ill children and adults. The book is truly holistic and client-centred in its approach, upholding the philosophy of palliative care. Aimed at all who interact with children and adults who have a life-limiting condition or who are dying Offers practical examples of approaches to dilemmas and emotional issues commonly face by those working in palliative care Encourages professionals to think laterally, to be creative in their use of core skills, and to use their life skills and experience to change the focus of their interventions Moves the emphasis away from the medical model to the emotional and spiritual influences on quality of life Offers clear, workable guidelines and demonstrates practical solutions, based on proven theory and experience, to problems encountered on a day-to-day basis by patients and those coming into contact with them

As someone approaches the end of their life, it is vitally important that they receive quality care and support, that their wishes are met, and that they are treated with dignity and respect. Pathways through Care at the End of Life is a comprehensive guide to providing excellent, person-centred end of life care. Following a pathway from initial conversations about end of life to care in the last days of life and after death, it covers assessing need and planning care, co-ordinating care between different agencies, and ensuring quality in different settings, such as at home, in a hospice, or in hospital. Good practice guidance on communication, ensuring the person's needs are met, support for their family and how to facilitate a good death is given. Case studies illustrate real life practice, and questions throughout each chapter encourage reflective practice. This book will be essential reading for all those working with people at the end of life, such as nurses, social workers, GPs and home carers, as well as students in these fields.

Neuropalliative Care, Part Two, Volume 191 covers a type of care that is given when there is no cure for the neurological disorder and the patient is in distress. It provides a scholarly background of neuropalliative care, from historic underpinnings to its practice in various geographical regions, along with best practices for specific neurological disorders. It covers the work of multi or interdisciplinary teams whose care is intended to make the patient as comfortable as possible and includes partners and families in treatment plans.

In the tradition of Atul Gwande's Being Mortal, this compassionate work helps individuals develop a more accepting view of dying while teaching them what to expect and how to navigate the healthcare system at end of life. The health care system has a narrow view of how to care for patients in elderhood. That view focuses on extending life with machines and procedures, not caring holistically for the patient. As such, patients will likely spend the last years of their lives in long-term care facilities and their final weeks in an ICU. Our fear of death contributes to this model for health. Dying at home, peacefully, and surrounded by family is almost impossible in our world. Fittingly, the central idea of this book is that in old age, or when facing a terminal diagnosis, it is more important to understand your life rather than to extend it. While this may seem simple, its implications are profound. A natural death means accepting that, at some point, we are old enough or sick enough to die without trying to interrupt that natural process beyond being kept comfortable. In our cynical and overly clinical age, it is difficult to reflect on the meaning of one's life, but that kind of honest introspection is exactly what we need. Accordingly, The Journey's End seeks to help people manage their healthcare, their expectations, and their decisions in the final phase of life.

Palliative care supports patients suffering from life-limiting illnesses by providing relief from physical, emotional and spiritual suffering, improving the quality of life for them and their families. It is an important component of good patient care, an integral part of the continuum of support for patients suffering with advanced cancer and end stage organ diseases. Providing good palliative care requires both sound clinical knowledge and compassion.With new chapters on end stage organ diseases, spiritual care and medical ethics, all healthcare professionals will find wisdom and practical advice in this book by the patient's bedside. The editors and contributors of the 2nd Edition of The Bedside Palliative Medicine Handbook have taken great care to provide readers with an evidence-based, updated guide to the practice of palliative medicine.

Are you involved in caring for people at the end of their life? Do you have a role in supporting the families of those who are dying, or is this an area of your work you find personally difficult?This book is an accessible guide for all those working in health or social care and caring for people at the end of their lives. This will include people in roles such as healthcare assistant, hospice worker, volunteer, nurse or other carers.Written by experts with extensive experience in delivering high quality end of life care, this book is full of real life examples, reflection exercises and case studies. It also includes insights into what can help make a good death, and how to help support families at the end of life.The easy to read chapters emphasise treating people who are dying with dignity using a person centred approach.The book supports the delivery of quality care by recognising physical and non-physical symptoms, and thinking about various emotional and physical needs people might have. It is also important that care givers look after themselves and advice is given on how best to do this.An essential purchase for anyone looking for guidance or support in this area, and suitable for those working in the community, care homes, hospices, hospitals or other settings where people are cared for. With a Foreword from Dr. Ros Taylor, MBE, National Director for Hospice Care, Hospice UK."The book strikes a balance between the factual and the personal, and gives the reader detailed information and time to think through reflection exercises. It highlights essential elements of end of life care, including communication, symptom management and personal care during bereavement. It emphasises the importance of adopting a person-centred approach of people who are dying. The book supports the delivery of quality care by recognizing the physical and non-physical symptoms, and thinking about people's emotional and physical needs. It also makes clear that caregivers should look after themselves and how they should do so." Deborah Preshaw, doctoral nursing student, Queens University Belfast, UK "This is a beautifully presented learning tool to support the delivery of end of life care. I particularly like the 'signposts' which reinforce the intention of the book to enable 'carers' to apply what they read to their role in practice." Liz Bryan, Director of Education and Training, St Christopher's Hospice, UK "This book is a very welcome addition to the literature on end of life care, as it does exactly what it says - it is a practical guide. It is written by an inter-professional group of clinical experts who have managed to create a concise, accessible resource which would be perfect for carers, volunteers, Health Care Support Workers or health care student working in any clinical setting who wants to make a difference for individuals approaching the end of their lives. The book addresses all of the important aspects of care at this crucial time, including attitudes to death and dying, communication issues, common physical and psycho-social symptoms, and care in the last hours of life. The case studies of three individuals are threaded throughout the book and are an excellent way to illustrate theoretical content and demonstrate its clinical application. The glossary of terms is particularly useful for a non-specialist audience, as are the resources for further reading. I particularly welcome the use of 'signposts' to different activities at key points which encourage the reader to reflect and apply the knowledge to their own situation. I highly recommend this book to any individual who wants to develop their confidence and competence in this challenging, but critically important area of care." Mick Coughlan, Programme Leader, The Royal Marsden School, UK "I found the chapters easy to read and the link to a case study really brought the words 'to life'. The chapter on self-care was helpful - this is an area hospice managers are having to focus on in detail as our staff strive to maintain the high levels of quality care hospices are renowned for with compassion and dignity . Giving emotional support throughout a shift to patients, families and colleagues can lead to a feeling of 'exhaustion' and 'fatigue', which if not recognised and addressed leads to time off sick and a feeling of being 'powerless' for staff . Healthcare professionals must recognise this as well as their managers, who then need to provide different levels of interventions that staff can access - as described in the book. I think all palliative care libraries should have this book on their shelves and perhaps it could be a 'core' reading book for training. I also used it on the ward to discuss with nurses - it's not that what is written is necessarily new but it is well written, concise and relevant. I feel this book would be very useful for those new to palliative care as well as those studying the subject. Relating theory to practice is always powerful and for new nurses and other healthcare professionals this provides context and meaning." Clodagh Sowton, Director of Patient Services, Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care, UK "This is a welcome book to the field of end of life care. This practical guide is accessible and is an excellent bridge between the 'Lay Person' and those health care professionals caring for the individual as they approach the end of life. The authors present their subject areas in a most readable and engaging style. While reviewing the case studies (which are weaved throughout the whole book); you feel they have come from experienced carers who have had 'lived experiences' of end of life care. This therefore, makes the chapters much more relatable and applicable to practice and real world life. This is also a personable book and I would recommend it to health care professionals and lay persons alike- who need to address or who may require further insight into the realms of: Physical/psycho-social symptoms, communication challenges and differential perspectives on dying and death. Finally, I will also be directing students of healthcare towards this impressive, insightful book." Robert Murphy, Senior Lecturer - Adult Nursing, London South Bank University, UK "The material covered is very helpful and the range of authors has been well selected from individuals who are active in clinical practice. The book is practical and clear, and Clair deserves high praise for the contribution it will make to clinicians seeking to improve their palliative care knowledge and skills." Professor Max Watson, Medical Director Northern Ireland Hospice, Visiting Professor University of Ulster, UK

Cancer and Creativity is a dialogue between accounts by cancer patients and survivors and a more clinical consideration and theoretical discussion from a psychoanalytic point of view of using creativity in coping with serious illness. The contributions featured demonstrate the power of creative expression as a tool for dealing with somatic, chronic and potentially life-threatening illnesses, giving patients a way of expressing and managing their individual cancer journeys and its attendant emotional sequelae. Ten artist-patients and survivors, who were involved in several long-term art therapy groups, give accounts of their experiences with cancer and with their support group, where they create paintings, embroidery, digital photography, comic books, maps and other works to express their experiences of being diagnosed and treated for cancer. The contributors describe their symptoms and their relationships to physicians and family members in words and visual representations. The book also addresses the experience of the public when they are confronted with art by cancer patients. Dreifuss-Kattan's own work as a psychoanalyst and art therapist informs her approach to the art space as what Winnicott calls a "transitional space," influenced by both the personal psychological experience and the physical environment. Dreifuss-Kattan closes her discussion with a reflection on terminal cancer care and the complex transferential and countertransferential relationship between patient and therapist. The book ends with a practical guide for both therapy groups, as well as individuals at home, to creatively address their experiences with cancer and its treatments. Cancer and Creativity will be of great interest to psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, psychooncologists and art therapists, as well as health professionals working in oncology and in palliative care.