Palliative Care

Venous Thromboembolism in Advanced Disease: A clinical guide

Simon I R Noble, Miriam J Johnson, Agnes Y Y Lee (eds)

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 ... More

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 are 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 international contributions from 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. Less

Volunteers in hospice and palliative care: A resource for voluntary service managers

Derek Doyle

Rosalind Scott, Steven Howlett (eds)

This book provides practical guidelines on the responsibilities of those who lead, co-ordinate, and manage volunteers in small hospices, large specialist palliative care units, and in ... More

This book provides 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, and 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. Less

The Weeping Willow: Encounters with Grief

Lynne Dale Halamish, Doron Hermoni

This book is a practical and direct handbook for grieving. It presents 30 stories from real life that examine how we grieve and how we can help those who grieve—whether the griever is ... More

This book is a practical and direct handbook for grieving. It presents 30 stories from real life that examine 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. The authors 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. Less

When Treatment Fails: How medicine cares for dying children

David J. Bearison

Over 50,000 children die of medical causes each year in the U.S., and 85% of them do so in hospitals. While great strides have been made in palliative care, many of these children still ... More

Over 50,000 children die of medical causes each year in the U.S., and 85% of them do so in hospitals. While great strides have been made in palliative care, many of these children still suffer considerably in the last months of life. Studies have found that pediatricians, who often do not expect to confront death on a frequent basis, and other hospital staff typically feel inadequately trained to manage the situation and are emotionally unprepared for the death. All of the feelings associated with caring for a chronically ill child – guilt, anger, frustration, ambivalence, exhaustion – are magnified when a child's life can no longer be prolonged. This book is based directly on the voices of those who care for children at the end of their lives: the doctors, nurses, social workers, pastoral counselors, and psychologists. Centered on seven cases, the author has elicited and recorded the stories of these professionals about their experiences of caring for patients. The narratives illustrate how clinicians from different professional roles speak about the biological, psychological, spiritual, and social dimensions of caring for terminally ill patients. The author analyzes their ways of making sense of and giving meaning to their difficult experiences, unearthing common and distinct themes and issues across disciplines. Less