A Patient-Centered Approach to the Chronically-Ill addresses the unique needs of chronically-ill patients and the challenges they present for medical doctors. This book features four principles of the patient-centered approach that can be used by physicians in treating chronically-ill patients. By adhering to these four principles, physicians will be able to humanely treat chronically-ill patients with the care and attention that they need in order to encourage them to manage their symptoms in the best possible way.

Given our aging population, there will sadly be an increasing number of terminally-ill patients over the next ten to twenty years. A Patient-Centered Approach to Medicine for the Terminally-Ill explains that a more humane patient-centered approach is necessary to ensure that terminally-ill patients are cared for effectively at the end of life. It is a well-known fact that terminally-ill patients are very difficult to care for by their physicians and other medical specialists, and paternalism is no longer a viable way of caring for the terminally-ill. In this book, Switankowsky argues that there are five conditions for physicians to bring about patient-centered medicine. These are: effective physician-patient disclosure of treatments, successful decision-making, effective communication, development of effective physician-patient relationships, and advance directives. By following these five necessary conditions, physicians could ensure that all terminally-ill patients die with some degree of dignity and are given essential, humane care until the end of their days.