Listening carefully to patients at the end of life is at the heart of good palliative care and this book provides a means of recognizing and talking about spiritual needs even when religious language is not used. The author refers to this as a 'language of spirit'. The book is based on interviews with patients who are dying and the language that they use to describe their experiences. It deals with death, dying, the experiences of patients and the relief of spiritual pain by looking closely at patient stories, drawings and behaviour. The book explains why it is often easier to recognize than to explain spiritual issues. Part One explores the psychological, spiritual and theological interpretations of human experience. A detailed account is given of how the patients' own stories were collected. Drawing on a broad literature which is grounded in patients' words and deeds, Part Two introduces a non-religious 'language of spirit'. Illuminated by patient art, Part Three shows what patients use this language to 'say' about their situation and how it is mediated through various metaphors. Part Four suggests ways of responding positively to patients' spiritual needs. Aimed primarily at palliative care specialists and specialist nurses, this book will also appeal to health care chaplains, pastoral support workers, theologians, social researchers, and psychotherapists. 'The numerous illustrations, given by patients comments as they tell their story, make this book a truly fascinating journey through an important area of end of life care.' Dame Cicely Saunders, OM, DBE, FRCP, Founder/President, St Christopher's Hospice, London 'The emphasis on allowing patients to speak for themselves is striking... the author has presented the topic in a sensitive and refreshing way... I think this book will be well-received and it will be an important contribution to the literature of palliative care.' Dr Odette Spruyt, Head of Pain and Palliative Care Department, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, East Melbourne, Australia

Gastrointestinal symptoms such as anorexia-cachexia, chronic nausea, vomiting and bowel obstruction are highly distressing for patients with advanced cancer. Approximately one in three adults will be diagnosed with cancer in their lives and approximately fifty per cent of them will die because of malignancy. More than eighty per cent of patients who die of cancer will present severe gastrointestinal symptoms before death.

This book presents detailed, evidence-based information on each of the gastrointestinal symptoms for a multi-disciplinary audience. Comprehensive guidelines have been included on how to assess the patient, in order to ensure effective treatment, in which prescribing is tailored to the cause of the symptoms and to the patient's individual needs. The book recognises that the aim of good cancer management and palliative care is to assess, diagnose, manage and treat these symptoms to ensure best quality of life.

Aimed primarily at hospice and palliative care specialists, medical, radiation and surgical oncologists and selected family physicians and internists who have an interest in cancer care. The book will also appeal to oncology and academic nurses, nutritionists as well as clinical psychologists with an interest in oncology and/or palliative care.

ALSO PUBLISHED BY OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Cancer Pain Management - a comprehensive approach Edited by Karen H Simpson & Keith Budd

Integrated Cancer Care - holistic, complementary and creative approaches Edited by Jennifer Barraclough

The Syringe Driver: continuous subcutaneous infusions in palliative care Andrew Dickman, Clare Littlewood & Jim Varga

When the first edition of A House Called Helen was published in 1993, there were only a handful of children's hospices in existence, all of them within the UK. There are now more than twenty in operation, and a significant number at the project stage, in the UK alone, and children's hospices have been set up in Canada, the USA, Australia and continental Europe. The concept of a children's hospice, seen as innovative when the first, Helen House, opened in Oxford in 1982, is now well established and the growth in the number of children's hospices has seen corresponding important developments in the field of paediatric palliative care. This book provides an authoritative account of how Helen House came into being. It records the events surrounding the foundation of the hospice and how it stemmed directly from what was learnt from the events following the sudden illness of the author's eldest daughter Helen, after whom it was named. The book sets out the philosophy which underpinned the hospice, which was taken up as the guiding philosophy of children's hospice care. It describes the hospice's operational framework and details the service provided by Helen House, which is widely cited as a model for children's hospice care worldwide. It provides valuable insight into the needs of the families who use hospice services and touches both on the difficulties they face caring, often over a long period of time, for a child with a life-limiting illness, and on the role and attitudes of professionals and indeed of the public at large. In this new edition an additional chapter reviews the growth of children's hospices and reflects on the challenges they face in their maturity. It considers the development of children's hospice care in relation to wider service provision and examines current and future issues surrounding the care of children with life-limiting illness.

This well-written text is designed to help students and health professionals understand oncology through real-life clinical scenarios, helping treatment and management decisions. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, this practical case-based format is fun to use and imparts a sense of reality to the learning process. The first chapter presents clinically relevant data from molecular biology, statistics and trial analysis, and Quality of Life research with an emphasis on what practising clinicians should know, but might have difficulty finding elsewhere in a digestible form. The second chapter, Making Management Decisions in Oncology presents the principles which guide decision making in oncology and covers the integration of tumour factors, patient factors and treatment factors into the decision making process. Cancer management requires the skills of a variety of clinicians - surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, palliative care physicians, oncology nurses and others. The integration of these disciplines into the overall management of each major tumour type has been emphasised in subsequent chapters. * covers oncology in over 80 cases * includes a guide to oncology information and evidence databases on the Internet * includes considerable coverage of issues in supportive care and symptom control. * deals with issues such as Breaking Bad News & Dealing with Angry Patients

Dame Cicely Saunders was the founder of the Hospice Movement, in which Britain leads the world. Her work transformed our approach to the care of the dying, and also the debate about euthanasia. She died in 2005 and her memorial service was held in Westminster Abbey in March 2006. Over 1600 people attended. This biography, by Shirley du Boulay, includes a 4-page plate section and new chapters by Marianne Rankin covering the years after 1984.

This book provides an up-to-date account of how to deal with the major chronic pain syndromes, including back pain, body and myofascial pain, malignant diseases, neurogenic pain, and headaches. It covers the background knowledge required in practice, and gives clear and concise advice on managing patients who suffer chronic pain. This book is not a technical manual but provides the essential practical information required for effective patient management.

In the new edition of this unique professional resource, hospice and palliative care team members-especially social workers and counselors-will find the empirical evidence and compassionate advice they need to provide excellent holistic psychosocial care to individuals who are dying or bereaved. Encompassing the journey through diagnosis, treatment, recurrence, palliative care, and bereavement, this guide describes appropriate interventions for each of the key transitions that more dying patients and their families face. Included throughout are personal reflections and experiences of social workers, counselors, and other team members, common major challenges to the healthcare team, and important considerations for each transition.

Palliative care is a rapidly evolving field focused on the management of problems that undermine the quality of life of patients with progressive incurable medical disorders. It is fundamentally concerned with all factors- physical, psychological, social, and spiritual- that contribute to suffering, and prevent a death with comfort and dignity. Palliative care is a fundamental aspect to good clinical practice, the "parallel universe" to therapies directed at cure or prolongation of life. All clinicians who treat patients with chronic life-threatening diseases are engaged in providing palliative care, continually attempting to manage complex symptomatology and functional disturbances.
The scholarly foundation of palliative care is advancing, and resources are needed to highlight the findings of empirical research. TOPICS IN PALLIATIVE CARE has been designed to meet the need for enhanced communication in this field. To highlight the diversity of concerns in palliative care, each volume of the TOPICS IN PALLIATIVE CARE Series is divided into sections that address a range of salient issues: symptom control, psychosocial functioning, spiritual or existential concerns, and ethics. The authors present and evaluate existing data, provide a context drawn from both the clinical and research settings, and integrate knowledge in a manner that is both practical and readable. The specific topics in this volume are: Pediatric Palliative Care, Management of Bone Pain, Psychopathology in Patients with Cancer, and Skin Disorders and their Management.

The rapidly evolving field of Palliative Care focuses on the management of phenomena that produce discomfort and that undermine the quality of life of patients with incurable medical disorders. The interdisciplinary clinical purview includes those factors - physical, psychological, social, and spiritual - that contribute to suffering, undermine quality of life, and prevent a death with comfort and dignity. Palliative Care is a fundamental part of clinical practice, the "parallel universe" to therapies directed at cure or prolongation of life. All clinicians who treat patients with chronic life-threatening diseases are ingaged in palliative care, continually attempting to manage complex symptomatology and functional disturbances.
The scientific foundation of palliative care is advancing, and similarly, methods are needed to highlight, for practitioners at the bedside, the findings of empirical research. TOPICS IN PALLIATIVE CARE has been designed to meet the need for enhanced communication in this field.
To highlight the diversity of concerns in palliative care, each volume of the TOPICS IN PALLIATIVE CARE Series is divided into sections that address a range of issues. Addressing aspects of symptom control, psychosocial functioning, spiritual or existential concerns, ethics, and other topics, the chapters in each section review the given area and focus on a small number of salient issues to analysis. The authors present and evaluate existing data, provide a context drawn from both the clinical and research settings, and integrate knowledge in a manner that is both practical and readable. The specific topics covered in Volume 2 are Neuropathic Pain, Cachexia/Anorexia, Asthenia, and Psychological Issues in the Caregiver.

Palliative care, which focuses on the management of phenomena that produce discomfort and otherwise undermine the quality of life of patients with incurable medical disorders, is a clinical specialty that is just beginning to define itself in the United States. This first volume in the Supportive Care Medicine series will discuss palliative care topics, such as pharmacotherapy of pain, adjustments to cancer, management of delirium, and gastrointestinal disorders.

This second edition of the Oxford Handbook of Cancer Nursing is an essential aid to the practising cancer nurse. It provides a quick reference to the key issues in cancer nursing, and a concise and systematic account of all of the main areas of cancer nursing practice. Filled with key tips and reflection points, each chapter supports professional development for the reader. The patient, their family, and the experience of cancer are at the heart of this handbook. For the new edition there is a greater focus on survivorship, drawing on recent developments in the area. The Oxford Handbook of Cancer Nursing promotes a multidisciplinary approach to cancer care, with references to current best evidence and the latest developments in treatment. Detailed guidance on complex aspects of care are outlined, integrating both psychosocial and physical care to better treat the whole patient. Written by experienced nurses, the book is laid out to enable quick access to precise, targeted information on the vast majority of potential clinical scenarios.

'Warm, wise and practical' Cressida Cowell, MBE An invaluable reference for parents of sick or hospitalised children by an experienced and eminent psychologist. To many parents, it is hard to imagine a more upsetting reality than one where their child is hospitalised, severely sick, or terminally ill. In When Your Child is Sick, psychologist Joanna Breyer distils decades of experience working with sick children and their families into a comprehensive guide for navigating the uncharted and frightening terrain. She provides expert advice to guide them through the hospital setting, at-home care, and long-term outcomes. Breyer's actionable techniques and direct advice will help parents feel more in-control of a circumstance that has upended their life. She alerts parents to key personnel in the hospital, gives dialogue prompts to help parents ask for the help they need, addresses the needs of their other children at home, offers advice on how to best utilise friends and family who want to help, includes stories from other families who have been there, and teaches coping techniques to help both parents and children weather the stress of prolonged illness and even death. When Your Child is Sick is a valuable guide to managing the myriad practical and emotional complications of an impossible situation.