When you or a loved one are diagnosed with a terminal illness, you wonder what can be done to make life easier and more meaningful during the remaining time on earth. In "A Hospice Guide Book, " author Dr. Curtis E. Smith shows how the concept of hospice, which emphasizes the important provisions of comfort care through the end-of-life journey, can help terminal patients die a comfortable, peaceful death with dignity.

A resource for families, patients, and health care providers, "A Hospice Guide Book" provides a thorough explanation of the hospice concept. It discusses
the definition of hospice care and its origins;
hospice fallacies, myths, and facts;
alternative care modalities;
the hospice team and its responsibilities;
levels of care and treatment;
pain and pain management;
hospice residences;
end of life care.

"A Hospice Guide Book" presents a plethora of information about hospice, enabling those who could become hospice patients the opportunity to receive the benefit of expert comfort care; pain control management; symptom control; and emotional, spiritual, and psychosocial support as they live with their terminal illness during the end-of-life journey and peacefully transition from this life to the next.

This book is about the journey of dealing with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). My wife Kenni Spencer, contacted this "evil disease" in 2009 and none of us even knew what it was nor what to expect. As with all terminal diseases, the print journey, is usually defined in words of hope, thankfulness, and new experiences. STOP...this book is about the "real face" of ALS. It charts the known's, the unknowns, the fears, the hopelessness, and the frustrations. This book shares the rawness and frankness of the ALS disease journey. It shares the whole dynamics that this disease manifests itself within the family structure. This book, the true face of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), is not to enjoy, but to clarify and understand the reality of it's impact. There is this huge degree of hopelessness for ALS victims. I am hoping that by writing this book, and explaining the journey, some bits of hope can be realized for futures to come.

John Chuchman, Pastoral Bereavement Educator and Companion shares his Grief and Caregiving workshop and seminar materials and background information hoping to help anyone experiencing a loss in life and anyone wishing to improve his/her basic caregiving skills.

A clinical case-based handbook has a role in general clinicians' practice of caring for patients with serious or life-limiting illness. The explosion of the field of Hospice and Palliative Medicine impacts all physicians and healthcare providers. Fellowship trained s- cialists graduate in greater numbers annually. These and more seasoned specialists are now certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties as subspecialists. Research in this field is expanding in scope and quantity, and peer reviewed journals devoted to this work are multiplying. Moreover, peer reviewed journals in primary care and other subspecialties of medicine regularly include papers that focus on end-of-life care, quality of life issues, and symptom management. Overall then, access to clinical information necessary to care for patients with life-limiting illness is not only essential, but also increasingly available. This case-based clinical book aims to help with the actual practice of caring for patients with life-limiting illness. Numerous texts and journals exist to provide the data to inform care, yet there remains a need to find practical points and information about the practical application of the principles of palliative care. Thus, we hope that the cases, key points, and practical tips will help health care providers who are not experts already in palliative care in the care of patients with serious illness and challenging problems. Some chapters follow one patient through the course of an illness to highlight the applicability of palliative care throughout the disease process.

Although the need for improved care for dying patients is widely recognized and frequently discussed, few books address the needs of the physicians, nurses, social workers, therapists, hospice team members, and pastoral counselors involved in care. ""Care of the Dying Patient"" contains material not found in other sources, offering advice and solutions to anyone - professional caregiver or family member - confronted with incurable illness and death. Its authors have lectured and published extensively on care of the dying patient and here review a wide range of topics to show that relief of physical suffering is not the only concern in providing care. This collection encompasses diverse aspects of end-of-life care across multiple disciplines, offering a broad perspective on such central issues as control of pain and other symptoms, spirituality, the needs of caregivers, and special concerns regarding the elderly. In its pages, readers will find out how to: effectively utilize palliative-care services and activate timely referral to hospice; arrange for care that takes into account patients' cultural beliefs; and, respond to spiritual and psychological distress, including the loss of hope that often overshadows physical suffering. The authors especially emphasize palliative care and hospice, since some physicians fear that such referrals may be viewed by patients and families as abandonment. They also address ethical and legal risks in pain management and warn that fear of over prescribing pain medication may inadvertently lead to ineffective pain relief and even place the treating team at risk of liability for under treatment of pain. While physicians have the ability to treat disease, they also help to determine the time and place of death, and they must recognize that end-of-life choices are made more complex than ever before by advances in medicine and at the same time increasingly important. ""Care of the Dying Patient"" addresses some of the challenges frequently confronted in terminal care and points the way toward a more compassionate way of death.

There are few enough studies of the needs of dying people in the Western world, but no accessible studies of the needs of dying people in Asian cultures. Now, in this pioneering work, Dr Mui Hing June Mak shows us how a Good Death expresses itself in Hong Kong, and also how this ideal varies and is modified in other Asian societies as this is observed in their own, often inaccessible literature. The author offers a comprehensive review of the literature on dying conduct and needs from several Asian perspectives, and also provides a perceptive analysis of the lessons to be learnt from her qualitative study which employed a 'Grounded Theory' methodology to understand the experiences and end-of-life needs of cancer patients in hospice care in Hong Kong. A relation-based theory, Harmonious Death, is developed. She also makes several suggestions to translate these theoretical concepts into practice. Dr Mak brings to her words not only the disciplined eye of a hospice clinician and academic but also a compassionate insight derived from her direct personal experiences. Close, personal relationship with three dying people were formative of her current research and professional interests, and also the driving concern in ensuring that the voices of all the participants in her study are heard clearly, sympathetically, and poignantly. Audience: The book will be of interest to teachers, students and professionals across the whole range of health and social care and social work, particularly those in palliative or hospice settings, as well as well as those with an interest in behavioural and social sciences, anthropology, philosophy, thanatology, not to mention the humanities. Contents: Foreword by Professor Allan Kellehear . literature review . Western and Chinese perspectives on death and dying . the research study . elements of a Good Death in Chinese culture: awareness of death; maintaining hope; freedom from pain and suffering; maintaining social relations; experiencing personal control; preparation and bidding farewell; accepting the timing of one's death A Harmonious Death, The Good Death models . Conclusions and recommendations for hospice philosophy, education, research and health policy

Author Tom Preston, MD, and his terminally ill patients and their families often face the controversial predicament of how to die when suffering has been medically extended. Through their conversations, they demonstrate how dying is a process, how physicians alter when and how we die, and why "natural" death is a misnomer after medical interventions prolong the process. Their cases also explain why patients-not physicians or others-should be able to make their own decisions about when and how to die.

Dr. Preston gives compelling reasons as to why aid-in-dying is not suicide when used by terminally ill patients, and why physicians who help them die are not assisting suicide. He shows us the ethical aspects of aid-in-dying and how they are consistent with other current and legal medical practices that help patients end their suffering. He debunks claims that legalized aid-in-dying would be abused for financial, social, or political reasons. Dr. Preston also shows how outdated cultural attitudes impede society's understanding of how we die, why many physicians withdraw from their dying patients, and how the sanctity-of-life principle has become distorted to obstruct physician assisted deaths.

"Patient-Directed Dying" is a powerful manifesto calling for mercy and reason in helping terminally ill patients die a peaceful death.

After the Nancy Cruzan case was decided by the Supreme Court in 1990, and ultimately resolved by the Courts of the State of Missouri, the decision to withhold or withdraw life-prolonging nutrition and hydration appeared to many to be as noncontroversial as decisions to refuse respirators or dialysis. Even the Catholic Church held that, although there should be a presumption in favor of providing nutrition and hydration, the patient or the patient's surrogate could overrule this presumption, if either believed the treatment was disproportionate or burdensome. The Schiavo case changed all that. Although the decision to remove Terri Schiavo's nutrition and hydration was made by her husband - her legal surrogate - based on his wife's belief that such treatment was disproportionate, Schiavo's immediate family protested so much that the case took years to resolve. It eventually involved all branches of government at both the state and federal levels. The ethical dilemmas that such cases pose continue to stir great controversy. This in-depth examination of these dilemmas provides information and documentation from many perspectives. The editors have included a foreword by Dr. Jay Wolfson, Terri Schiavo's court-appointed guardian ad litem, as well as Dr. Wolfson's report to Gov. Jeb Bush on the case and Gov. Bush's reply; public statements by President George Bush and Senators David Weldon, Rick Santorum, Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, and Barney Frank; statements by the pope and other representatives of the Catholic Church on this issue; plus much medical and legal background material on both precedents to the Schiavo case and its aftermath, including the results of the autopsy report. For anyone wishing an in-depth understanding of these complex ethical issues, issues many of us will have to confront in our own families, this volume is indispensable.

The prospect of dying can be overwhelming, whether it's happening to you, a family member, or a friend. In "Good End," Dr. Michael Appleton addresses questions about hospice care and end-of-life issues with compassion and honesty. This is a must read for patients and families who are on hospice or considering hospice care.

"Now I Lay Me Down...The Owner's Manual for the Dying Patient, Their Caregivers and Their Loved Ones" was written to help those with a terminal illness, and those who care for them, to improve the quality of their physical and spiritual life. It also gives guidance to the loved ones after death. During Mrs. Stringer's work as a hospice nurse she came to realize the importance of an open and honest relationship in the last months and days of a person's life. This is reflected in the book, as she has condensed an enormous amount of information in a straight-forward, easy to understand guide, while remaining sensitive and compassionate.

"Now I Lay Me Down...The Owner's Manual for the Dying Patient, Their Caregivers and Their Loved Ones" was written to help those with a terminal illness, and those who care for them, to improve the quality of their physical and spiritual life. It also gives guidance to the loved ones after death. During Mrs. Stringer's work as a hospice nurse she came to realize the importance of an open and honest relationship in the last months and days of a person's life. This is reflected in the book, as she has condensed an enormous amount of information in a straight-forward, easy to understand guide, while remaining sensitive and compassionate.

This book tells the story of a caregiver for a person who is seriously ill of cancer. It is of help to both the caregiver and the person suffering from illness. It offers physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual suggestions to help with the process of the disease, and, if it comes to that, dying. The book's information is valuable as a guide for any caregiver helping another with any serious, debilitating illness, not solely cancer. The large paperback is printed in a large font which allows for comfortable and fast reading. Caregivers, I know, are always pressed for time. Book Published March 25, 2005.

'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.

In this meditative, heartbreaking, and unexpectedly comforting book, artist and essayist Judith Margolis tells the story of her mother's illness, decline, and death through thoughtfully written vignettes, poignant drawings, and poetic, prayerful affirmations. As her mother fights a series of health crises and faces the end of her life, Margolis documents her anxious concern and her father's turmoil while juggling responsibilities and her own distress. The resulting narrative, told with quiet intensity and candor, bears witness to contentious deliberations over medical decisions, the difficulties of patient care, and the complicated dynamics of family. In this book, designed to imitate a traditional Jewish prayer book, Margolis reminds herself and others caring for a dying parent to "pray"-pray for clarity, pray to stay centered, pray to forgive oneself-as a way of acknowledging and embodying the turbulent emotions involved. Both the form of the book and Margolis's rendering of the traditions involved in a family death ground Life Support firmly in the Jewish experience, providing a spiritual layer to this honest, realistic narrative that all readers will find inspiring and relevant. Life Support: Invitation to Prayer is a unique testimony to the power of creative response to infirmity and careful documentation during times of personal loss, as well as a loving tribute to family, spirituality, and grief.

Taking a multidisciplinary approach, End of Life Nursing Care flows smoothly from historical perspectives to caring for the caregiver; and includes theories, holistic models, the grief process and responses to loss, ethical and legal considerations, patient centered care, communication, management of specific terminal illnesses, and issues across the lifespan. The text covers the encircling meaningful parameters of history, sociology, psychology, pathophysiology, philosophy, and the law.

Hospice is the primary system to provide care for the terminally ill and their families. Warm, compassionate, and absolutely practical, this definitive resource from the National Hospice Organization will answer all your questions about hospice care and will show you how to make this comprehensive and flexible system work for you and your family.

The Hospice Choice illustrates the gamut of situations dying people and their families may face and suggests ways to manage them. Throughout is information on the broad range of services hospice can provide:

• Physicians and Nursing Services: to help with care specifically designed to keep the patient comfortable and at home
• Counseling Services: to help families and patients sort out their needs and responses
• Respite Services: to allow caregivers needed breaks
• Bereavement Counseling: to provide support for surviving family members and significant others for as much as a full year after loss

The Hospice Choicealso addresses sensitive issues like methods of payment, issues of ethnicity, the special problems raised by sudden death, and the realities of caregiver exhaustion. It will give you the concrete information, support, and encouragement that will help you make wise, compassionate decisions for yourself and for your loved ones.

Sarah Thebarge, a Yale-trained physician assistant, nearly died of breast cancer at age twenty-seven, but that did not end her deeply felt spiritual calling to medical missions in Africa. Risking her own health, she moved to Togo, West Africa-ranked by the United Nations as the least happy country in the world-to care for sick and suffering patients. Serving without pay in a mission hospital, she pondered the intersection of faith and medicine in her quest to help make the world "well." In the hospital wards, she witnessed death over and over again. In the outpatient clinic, she daily diagnosed patients with deadly diseases, many of which had simple but unavailable cures. She lived in austere conditions and nearly succumbed herself in a harrowing bout with malaria. She describes her experiences in gripping detail and reflects courageously about difficult and deep human connections-across race, culture, material circumstances, and medical access. Her experience exemplifies the triumph of surviving in order to share the stories that often go untold. In the end, WELL is an invitation to ask what happens when, instead of asking why God allows suffering to happen in the world, we ask, "Why do we?"

The first of two very popular and unique anthologies of short stories that were written specifically be read out-loud to older adults, A Loving Voice offers an imaginative and creative way for family members, friends and professionals to reach out to, communicate with, and entertain the older people in their care, particularly those who are bed-ridden, confined to a nursing home or hospital and those with dementia or those beginning to slip into it. In a moment of inspiration that has been much-welcomed ever since by caregivers the world over, the idea for A Loving Voice came to it's editors, Carolyn Banks and Janis Rizzo, when they recognized the desperate need for, and the serious lack of, reading material for this large and ever-growing segment of the population. In response, they invited hundreds of writers to submit stories and poems for their anthology. The 52 never-before-published selections they ended up including (43 stories and nine poems, one for each week of the year), are those that they and the eldercare experts they consulted felt would be most valuable and entertaining for their elderly audience: stories that evoke nostalgic memories and warm feelings of the past, interesting stories that stimulate conversation, provide a bridge between the past and present and a bond between reader and listener. All of the selections can be read in one sitting (no longer than 10 minutes), are clear with easy-to-follow plots and simple dialogue that lends itself to reading aloud. Moreover, as Banks and Rizzo discovered, reading aloud is an intimate, warm and friendly activity that encourages physical closeness, something that is sorely needed as we age. As Carolyn Banks reports inpreface to the book, "The pieces we have chosen are not insultingly simple. Even those who are able to read these selections on their own will find them engaging and entertaining. These are stories and poems with purpose, stories and poems with heart, stories and poems we are proud to present. Each we hope will help you find your own loving voice." Includes short stories and poems written by an impressive array of American authors including Louise Erdrich, Shelby Hearon, Carolyn Osborn and Paul Estaver. This book, and it's accompanying second volume, A Loving Voice II: A Caregiver's Book of More Read-Aloud Stories for the Elderly, has received critical acclaim from professional caregivers and grateful family members alike and has been enthusiastically reviewed in hundreds of papers, magazines and journals alike for its inventive method of communicating with, and bringing some moments of pleasure to, the older adult.

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.

This sixth edition of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine takes us now into the third decade for this definitive award-winning textbook. It has been rigorously updated to offer a truly global perspective, highlighting the best current evidence-based practices, and collective wisdom from more than 200 experts around the world. This leading textbook covers all the new and emerging topics, updated and restructured to reflect major developments in the increasingly widespread acceptance of palliative medicine as a fundamental public health need. The sixth edition includes new sections devoted to family and caregiver issues, cardio-respiratory symptoms and disorders, and genitourinary symptoms and disorders. In addition, the multi-disciplinary nature of palliative care is emphasized throughout the textbook, covering areas from ethical and communication issues, the treatment of symptoms, and the management of pain. The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine is a truly comprehensive text. No hospital, hospice, palliative care service, or medical library should be without this essential source of information. This sixth edition of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine is dedicated to the memory of Professor Kenneth Fearon husband of Professor Marie Fallon and a surgeon who became a world leader in the research and management of anorexia and cachexia. He modeled a work-life balance that is so critical in our field, with devotion to both his patients and his family.

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.

'A hymn to the art and science of nursing itself' Guardian The hand of a stranger offered in solace. A flower placed on a dead body as a mark of respect. It is these moments of empathy that define us as people. Nobody knows this better than a nurse. In How to Treat People, Molly Case documents these extraordinary moments of human connection and compassion. In rich, lyrical prose, she introduces us to patients going through the most extreme experiences. And when her father is admitted to the high dependency unit on which she works, Molly confronts care in a whole new way, when two worlds - the professional and the personal - suddenly collide. 'It will buoy your faith in humanity' Stylist 'Outstanding. Case's power of observation can slay you' The Times 'Fascinating, poignant and searing' Jo Brand 'Beautifully written' Stephen Westaby, author of Fragile Lives 'Her empathy and compassion are everywhere' Sunday Times

Die meisten Menschen in Deutschland sterben in Institutionen wie Krankenhausern oder Pflegeheimen, wo die Personalsituation oft angespannt ist. Damit Patienten und Bewohner in Wurde und Geborgenheit ihr Lebensende erleben konnen, unterstutzen zahlreiche ehrenamtliche Sterbebegleiter/-innen die hauptamtlich Tatigen. Die Ehrenamtlichen bringen durch ihre Zeit, Zuwendung, Aufmerksamkeit, Ruhe, Gelassenheit und Offenheit Erleichterung in den Alltag und speziell in die Situation Sterbender.Dieses Handbuch bereitet auf die ehrenamtliche Sterbebegleitung professionell vor. Dabei steht die Entwicklung einer inneren Haltung der Achtsamkeit und Wertschatzung sterbenden Menschen und ihren Angehorigen gegenuber im Mittelpunkt. In der Auseinandersetzung mit eigenen Verlusten und dem Sterben lernen die Kursteilnehmerinnen und -teilnehmer, die Bedurfnisse von Menschen in ihrer letzten Lebensphase sensibel wahrzunehmen und die Beziehung zu ihnen individuell und angemessen zu gestalten. Themen sind: eigene Abschieds- und Grenzerfahrungen, Schulung der Wahrnehmung, Kommunikation mit schwersterkrankten Menschen/Gesprachsfuhrung, Trauer, eigene Motivation fur den Dienst, Psychohygiene. Dieses Handbuch Ehrenamtliche Sterbebegleitung umfasst neben einer Einfuhrung in die einzelnen thematischen Bereiche zahlreiche Ubungsmodule mit genauen Beschreibungen.