Psychiatric, or psychosocial, palliative care has transformed palliative medicine. Palliation that neglects psychosocial dimensions of patient and family experience fails to meet contemporary standards of comprehensive palliative care. While a focus on somatic issues has sometimes overshadowed attention to psychological, existential, and spiritual end-of-life challenges, the past decade has seen an all encompassing, multi-disciplinary approach to care for the dying take hold. Written by internationally known psychiatry and palliative care experts, the Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine is an essential reference for all providers of palliative care, including psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health counselors, oncologists, hospice workers, and social workers.

Respiratory symptoms such as breathlessness and cough are common in patients with advancing and incurable disease. For example, cancer, chronic cardiac and pulmonary disease, progressive neuromuscular disorders and degenerative disorders all give rise to varying degrees of respiratory distress which adversely affects the patient's quality of life. In recent years, there has been significant growth into the palliation of respiratory symptoms leading to practical ways of giving relief in hospices, hospitals and at home. The second edition of this popular title in the Supportive Care series includes non-malignant respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis in AIDS patients, cystic fibrosis and ventilator-dependent patients, and focuses on aetiology and diagnosis and management, emphasising symptoms, quality of life and psychosocial support. The underlying theme of the book is the application of modern research-based knowledge, in a humane way, for patients with advancing disease.

A book for nurses, doctors and all who provide end of life care, this essential volume guides readers through the ethical complexities of such care, including current policy initiatives, and encourages debate and discussion on their controversial aspects. Divided into two parts, it introduces and explains clinical decision-making processes about which there is broad consensus, in line with guidance documents issued by WHO, BMA, GMC, and similar bodies. The changing political and social context where 'patient choice' has become a central idea, and the broadened scope of patients' best interests, have added to the complexity of decision-making in end of life care. The authors discuss issues widely encountered by GPs, nurses, and hospital clinicians. These include patient choice, consent, life prolonging treatment, and symptom relief including sedation. Part two explores the more controversial current end of life care initiatives, such as advance care planning, preferred place of care and death, euthanasia and assisted suicide, extended ideas of 'best interests', and the view that there are therapeutic duties to the relatives of patients. Throughout their discussion the authors draw attention to loose ends and contradictions in some of the proposals. Examining the current policy of consumerist choice, they reject its place in the health service, proposing a realistic, fair, humane, and widely adoptable system of end of life care.
As knowledge of ethical theories is required in training courses, and the vocabulary of ethical theory is widespread in current discussions, a substantial appendix on ethical theories and terms is available online.
Written by the same authors as The Philosophy of Palliative Care: Critique and Reconstruction, which won the Medical Journalists' Association Specialist Book Award 2007, this new book for non-specialists is essential reading for all health care professionals involved in providing end of life care.

The book provides comprehensive, practical guidelines on the responsibilities of those who lead, co-ordinate and manage volunteers in small hospices, large specialist palliative care units, and in general hospitals with palliative care teams. Volunteers are key workers, who often perform difficult and important work. In the United Kingdom alone there are thousands of volunteers in hospice work, a small proportion doing work with patients, and the vast majority doing equally valuable work such as driving, sitting with relatives, manning charity shops and telephones. As a result, Europe, Australia, the United States and Canada are very interested in the United Kingdom's use of volunteers. Aimed primarily at Voluntary Services Managers in small hospices, large specialist palliative care units, and in general hospitals with palliative care teams, this updated second edition covers volunteer selection, training, supervision and support, and legal and ethical considerations. Information is presented in an easily accessible way, using key points, summary panels and checklists. This book will also appeal to the volunteers themselves.

Vitamin C holds a unique place in scientific and cultural history. In this book, a group of leading scientific researchers describe new insights into the myriad ways vitamin C is employed during normal physiological functioning. In addition, the text provides an extensive overview of the following: the rationale for utilizing vitamin C in the clinic, updates on recent uses of vitamin C in cancer treatment through high-dose intravenous therapies, the role vitamin C plays in the treatment of sepsis and infectious disease, management of the ways vitamin C can improve stem cell differentiation, as well as vitamin C use in other important health situations. Features Includes chapters from a team of leading international scholars Reviews the history and recent research on the functions, benefits, and uses of vitamin C Focuses special attention on the way vitamin C can be used in the treatment of cancers Discusses how vitamin C can be employed against infectious disease

A focus on intentional communication, team building, and relational maintenance.This text is designed to help form and maintain palliative care teams that survive and thrive. Whether you are starting a new team or hoping to help an existing team, this text addresses aspects of team players, leadership, meetings, organizational culture, and self- and team-care through a combination of empirical data and real voices from health care professionals in palliative care practice. By focusing on the individual professional in relation to team health and success, this text shows how to develop high quality, high-performing palliative care teams. Perfect for both students and the working professional, this text is useful at any time in your career or your team's development. It explores the types of providers involved in palliative care, their roles, possible conflicts, and the opportunity to amplify their work as a team while overcoming the stigma that may be attached to palliative care. This book focuses on the foundational role of communication in leadership, team building, and the delivery of patient care. Designed to provide workable solutions to challenges such as poor team design, siloing, and faulty communication, it provides suggestions that can be implemented immediately by your palliative care team. This focus allows health care professionals who are passionate about palliative care to grow into high functioning teams with a focus on excellent patient care. Key Features: Satisfactory and Unsatisfactory Palliative Care Experiences Stories from nurses, social workers, chaplains, physicians, pharmacists, executives, patients, and families Pearls from the Field: Provider and team takeaways Best practices of team leaders Tips for individuals and teams to communicate with other providers, departments, and senior leadership Discusses how to improve short-term and long-term functionality Outlines the predictors of burnout for palliative care professionals and teams Self-care and team-care suggestions Combines up-to-date research and theory in an accessible writing style

Most aged in India are experiencing a highly protracted death in hospitals, entangled in tubes and machines. Such 'medicalised death' entails huge psychological, social and financial costs for both patients and their caregivers. There are also many who are dying in abject neglect. However, Government response to end-of-life care has been almost negligible and there is an acute information deficit on dying matters. This book examines different settings where elderly die, including hospitals, family homes and palliative set-ups. The discourse is set in the backdrop of international attempts to restructure and reconfigure the health delivery system for ageing population. It makes critical commentaries on global developments, offers state-of-art reviews of recent advances, substantiates and corroborates facts by personal narratives and case histories. The book overcomes a segmental understanding of the field by weaving various sociological, medical, legal and cultural issues together. Finally, the authors critically examine biomedicine's potential to meet the complex needs of the dying elderly. In an attempt to bring cultural sensitivity in end-of-life care, they explore the lost Indic 'art of dying' which has the potential to de- medicalise death. Increasing public sensitivity to poor dying conditions of the elderly in India and facilitating changes to improve care systems, this book also demonstrates the limitations of the western specialization of death. It will be of interest to academics in the field of Medical Sociology/Anthropology, Medicine, Palliative care, Public Health and Social Work, Social Policy and Asian Studies.

Improved cancer treatment and survival rates have resulted in a growing number of cancer survivors who live years, and even decades, after their cancer diagnosis. Insights into what the experience of cancer survivorship looks like and how it can be navigated are much sought after by cancer survivors and their families, loved ones, and communities as they chart this unfamiliar and often lonely territory. Approximately 53% of cancer patients are diagnosed when 65 years or older, yet no attempt to explore the experience of older cancer survivors has been made. Dr. Alice. Kornblith, an esteemed social psychologist with extensive experience working with cancer patients, aims to address this need in Older Survivors of Cancer: Feeling Understood by Sharing Experiences. This thoughtful, respectful book seeks to reduce older cancer patients' and survivors' feeling of aloneness and of not being understood by sharing narratives of other older cancer survivors' experiences. Narratives were gathered specifically for this book and relate experiences across different cancer diagnostic groups, phases of cancer and gender. Throughout, the reader learns how cancer affected their lives-physically, psychologically, spiritually, and socially-during each phase of their cancer journey. Commentary by Dr. Kornblith provides context and lessons learned from the narratives.

Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or motor neurone disease) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that can cause profound suffering for both the patient and their family. Whilst new treatments for ALS are being developed, these are not curative and offer only the potential to slow its progression. Palliative care must therefore be integral to the clinical approach to the disease. Palliative Care in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: From diagnosis to bereavement reflects the wide scope of this care; it must cover not just the terminal phase, but support the patient and their family from the onset of the disease. Both the multidisciplinary palliative care team and the neurology team are essential in providing a high standard of care and allowing quality of life (both patient and carer) to be maintained. Clear guidelines are provided to address care throughout the disease process. Control of symptoms is covered alongside the psychosocial care of patients and their families. Case studies are used to emphasise the complexity of the care needs and involvement of the patient and family, culminating in discussion of bereavement. Different models of care are explored, and this new edition utilizes the increase in both the evidence-base and available literature on the subject. New topics discussed include complementary therapies, personal and family experiences of ALS, new genetics research, and updated guidelines for patient care, to ensure this new edition remains the essential guide to palliative care in ALS.

There is increasing recognition of the burden of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with advanced incurable disease and the clinical, ethical, and philosophical challenges they may pose. With a growing elderly population and oncological therapies helping patients live longer with malignant disease, VTE is likely to be an ongoing problem. Whilst presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of VTE in general medicine is well established, its management within the palliative care setting is less clear-cut. Clinical presentation is often masked by other palliative symptoms, and symptoms can be consistent with those of other conditions; diagnosis is therefore underappreciated, and the condition can be difficult to manage.
Bringing together contributions from international experts in the field of VTE and palliative care, this book explores the increasing challenges faced by healthcare professionals when managing VTE in advanced disease. Topics such as the epidemiology and pathogenesis of the condition are discussed. It appraises the current evidence informing the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of VTE, with particular emphasis on its application to patients with incurable malignancy and non-malignant disease. Chapters are illustrated with key learning points and, where appropriate, case studies are presented to illustrate the decision-making processes that may occur when balancing the evidence with its impact on patient quality of life.
This practical resource is invaluable for healthcare professionals working in all areas of medicine where patients with advanced cancer and non-malignant disease are cared for.

Relieve and prevent chronic pain forever with this simple, safe, and sure-fire three-minute daily program! Imagine a world free of aches and pains...no back pain, headaches, joint stiffness, or arthritis; no expensive ergonomic equipment or pain medications. With Dr. Joseph Weisberg's revolutionary new system, a pain-free life is now within reach of everyone--even those who have endured chronic pain for years. At the heart of Dr. Weisberg's system is the 3-Minute Maintenance Method--a unique program for all ages and fitness levels that eliminates the conditions that cause pain in the first place. By utilizing six different thirty-second therapeutic movements the program makes it possible for the body to keep itself free of pain. Thanks to Dr. Weisberg's groundbreaking program, relief--and a lifetime of healthy muscles and joints--is finally at hand. In fact, it's just three minutes away!

Early stage breast cancer can be stressful and upsetting for both the woman dealing with the disease and her partner. This illness can also place a strain on a couple's relationship. However, couples who are able to provide effective support to one another are more likely to adapt well. Focusing on the couple as a unit can promote effective coping for both patients and their partners .
This couples-focused group program aims to improve a couple's functioning as a "team" and provides a supportive environment for couples facing similar breast cancer-related issues. Over the course of six sessions, couples learn support and communication skills, as well as techniques to manage stress and enhance intimacy. Modeling by group leaders and other couples facilitates skill acquisition. With continued use, the skills learned in group can have long-term benefits for couples .
This guide, along with the corresponding workbook, provides all the information needed to implement this group program. It contains step-by-step instructions for running the group, as well as sample group leader dialogues, in-session activities, and homework assignments. The couple's workbook is designed to be shared by both partners as they work together through the program. By the end of the six weeks, couples will be better equipped as a team to cope with the stresses of cancer and the challenges that may lie ahead.

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.

Riveting in their emotional clarity and utterly jargon free, these 30 stories from real life penetrate how we grieve and how we can help those who grieve- whether the griever is oneself, someone we care about, or a client or patient. Lynne Dale Halamish, an internationally respected grief counsellor with more than 20 years' experience, and Doron Hermoni, a family physician, researcher, and educator, present vignettes from practice that show how death- lingering, unexpected, violent, or self-inflicted- and the loss of a relationship- to oneself or with a child, sibling, parent, mate, grandparent, or friend- give life to grief, together with the process by which each person fully encounters his or her grief. Each story is no more than two or three pages, and the authors follow each one with a short summary of its teachings and a selection of annotated recent references for those who wish to read more about a topic. Looked at in relief, the stories reveal a master grief counsellor at work.

The International Handbook of Art Therapy in Palliative and Bereavement Care offers a multicultural and international perspective on how art therapy can be of help to individuals, groups, families, communities, and nations facing death and dying as well as grief and loss. Over 50 art therapists from around the world write about the transforming power of art therapy in the lives of those facing terminal illness, dementia, loss, and grief. They offer practical descriptions and techniques for working with adults and children to guide professionals, including those new to using art therapy and creative approaches in end-of-life care services. This international handbook is essential reading for arts therapists, social workers, medical personnel, faith leaders, and psychologists interested in a collaborative and accessible approach to working with patients and families affected by loss.

Supportive Care for the Renal Patient Second Edition provides a comprehensive, evidence-based overview of supportive care for the nephrology patient. An international group of contributors emphasise the continuum of palliative care from the time of diagnosis through to end-of-life care and the issues surrounding withdrawal of dialysis. The book addresses the psychological impact of the disease, the importance of involving the patient in making decisions about their care, ethical considerations, the role of the family and the multidisciplinary team. This new edition includes two new chapters on conservative management of advanced kidney disease (AKD) and dialysis in the very elderly. The chapters covering non pain symptoms, advance care planning, quality of life, psychological and psychiatric consideration and end-of-life care have also be completely revised to include new evidence and current thinking. This book will be of particular interest to palliative care practitioners; nephrologists, who increasingly need to know more about palliative care; nurse practitioners, dialysis nurses, social workers, dieticians, and psychiatric consultants. ABOUT THE SUPPORTIVE CARE SERIES Supportive care is the multidisciplinary holistic care of patients with chronic and life-limiting illnesses and their families - from the time around diagnosis, through treatments aimed at cure or prolonging life, and into the phase currently acknowledged as palliative care. It involves recognising and caring for the side-effects of active therapies as well as patients' symptoms, co-morbidities, psychological, social and spiritual concerns. It also values the role of family carers and helps them in supporting the patient, as well as attending to their own special needs. Unlike traditional palliative care, which grew from the terminal care of cancer patients, supportive care is not restricted to dying patients nor to cancer. This series covers the support of patients with a variety of long-term conditions, who are currently largely managed by specialist medical teams in hospital and by primary care teams in community settings. Each volume therefore provides a practical guide to the supportive care of patients at all stages of illness. Series Editor: Sam H. Ahmedzai

Improving care for the patients who are in the last phase of their lives has been a field that most health care providers have struggled with during last few years. Having worked with hundreds of providers throughout the country, these experienced authors know what providers need when it comes to implementing a quality improvement project. This guide will provide user-friendly, step-by-step instructions on how to implement a quality improvement project in the full range of care settings. The instructions will be brought to life with specific examples from actual successful projects and key information on the best practices in the industry. Readers will also be pointed to resources available online and elsewhere, with information on how to access them. The guide will be written in an informal, maximally helpful style, with checklists, tables, and boxed information. Answering 80% of the questions in less than half the space, The Common Sense Guide is the perfect portable companion to Dr. Lynn's desk reference, Improving Care for the End of Life. The book will be of great interest to all health care professionals involved in the care of those with serious chronic illness -- doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, clinic administrators, quality improvement experts, and so forth.

This book is a thoughtful, informative, and practical guide for anyone involved in caring for the seriously and chronically ill or dying. The connection between spirituality and medicine has been receiving a lot of attention in both the scientific and lay presses recently, but research and anecdotal evidence all indicate that spirituality is central to the care of the chronically ill and dying. It is therefore critical that healthcare providers who interact with seriously ill patients know how to address their spiritual needs.
This book presents current thinking on how spiritual care can be integrated into traditional caregiving. Part one discusses aspects of spirituality, such as presence, ethics, and relationships. Part two delves into a number of specific religious and theological traditions. Part three offers practical applications and tools, including storytelling, psychotherapy, dance, music, and the arts. Part four focuses on patients' stories and reflections. The book concludes with appendices that have sample advance directives for Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim patients.
Volume editor Christina Puchalski is the director of the George Washington Institute of Spirituality and Health. She is also an associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University Medical Center and an active practicing physician and medical educator. Dr. Puchalski is nationally and internationally recognized as a pioneer in the integration of spirituality and healthcare. Chapters are authored by an impressive group of medical and religious experts, and patients' stories also appear throughout, offering real-world examples. The book features a foreword by the Dalai Lama.

Palliative Care Within Mental Health: Ethical Practice explores the comprehensive concerns and dilemmas that occur surrounding people experiencing mental health problems and disorders. Working beyond narrow, stereotypical definitions of palliative care as restricted to terminal cancer patients, this balanced and thought-provoking volume examines the many interrelated issues that face the individual, families, and caregivers, setting the groundwork for improved, ethical relationships and interventions. Chapters by experts and experienced practitioners detail the challenges, concerns, and best practices for ethical care and responses in a variety of individual and treatment contexts. This is an essential and thoughtful new resource for all those involved in the fast-developing field of palliative mental health.

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.

Individuals and families face challenges at the end of life that can vary significantly depending on social and cultural contexts, yet more than ever is now known about the needs that cut across the great diversity of experiences in the face of dying and death. A number of behavioural interventions and clinical approaches to addressing these needs have been developed and are available to help providers care for clients and assist them in achieving their goals. Perspectives on Palliative and End-of-Life Care: Disease, Social and Cultural Contexts explores how these interventions can be used to address a range of issues across social and cultural contexts for those in need of end of life care. With perspectives from experienced clinicians, providers, and caregivers from around the world, the book offers a strong foundation in contemporary evidence-based practice alongside seasoned practice insights from the field and explores interventions for people as diverse as HIV caregivers in Africa and individuals dying with dementia. In addition, readers will learn about the process of caring for individuals with chronic illnesses including severe mental illness; weigh the impact of policy regulations on the availability of and access to palliative care and interventions; and be able to compare the different issues experienced by family caregivers and formal caregivers. As the companion volume to Perspectives on Behavioural Interventions in Palliative and End-of-Life Care, this book will be of interest to a wide variety of individuals, such as academics, researchers and postgraduates in the fields of mental health, medicine, psychology and social work. It will also be essential reading for healthcare providers and trainees from psychosocial and palliative medicine, social work and nursing.

Dr. Hallenbeck has written a guide for clinicians who want an introduction to palliative care that addresses "big picture" issues as well as provides specific, practical advice. Topics addressed range from an overview of death and dying in the modern world to discussions of pain and symptom management, communication techniques and palliative care consults.

Hospice is the premiere end of life program in the United States, but its requirement that patients forgo disease-directed therapies and that they have a prognosis of 6 months or less means that it serves less than half of dying patients and often for very short periods of time. Palliative care offers careful attention to pain and symptom management, added support for patients and families, and assistance with difficult medical decision making alongside any and all desired medical treatments, but it does not include a comprehensive system of care as is provided by hospice. The practice of palliative care and hospice is filled with sometimes overt (requests for hastened death in an environment where such acts are legally prohibited) and other times covert (the delay in palliative care referral because the health care team believes it will undermine disease directed treatment) ethical issues. The contributors to this volume use a series of case presentations within each chapter to illustrate some of the palliative care and hospice challenges with significant ethical dimensions across the three overarching domains: 1) care delivery systems; 2) addressing the many dimensions of suffering; and 3) difficult decisions near the end of life. The contributors are among the most experienced palliative care, hospice and ethics scholars in North America and Western Europe. Each has been given relatively free reign to address what they feel are the most pressing ethical challenges within their domain, so a wide range of positions and vantage points are represented. As a result, the volume provides a very diverse ethical exploration of this relatively young field that can deepen, stretch, and at times confront any simple notion of the challenges facing patients, their families, professional caregivers, and policy makers.

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.

Communication in Palliative Nursing presents the COMFORT Model, a theoretically-grounded and empirically-based model of palliative care communication. Built on over a decade of communication research with patients, families, and interdisciplinary providers, and reworked based on feedback from hundreds of nurses nationwide, the chapters outline a revised COMFORT curriculum: Connect, Options, Making Meaning, Family caregivers, Openings, Relating, and Team communication. Based on a narrative approach to communication, which addresses communication skill development, this volume teaches nurses to consider a universal model of communication that aligns with the holistic nature of palliative care. This work moves beyond the traditional and singular view of the nurse as patient and family educator, to embrace highly complex communication challenges present in palliative care-namely, providing care and comfort through communication at a time when patients, families, and nurses themselves are suffering. In light of the vast changes in the palliative care landscape and the increasingly pivotal role of nurses in advancing those changes, this second edition provides an evidence-based approach to the practice of palliative nursing. Communication in Palliative Nursing integrates communication theory and health literacy constructs throughout, and provides clinical tools and teaching resources to help nurses enhance their own communication and create comfort for themselves, as well as for patients and their families.