Approaching Death
Approaching Death

Author: Committee on Care at the End of Life

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1997-10-30

Total Pages: 457

ISBN-13: 0309518253

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When the end of life makes its inevitable appearance, people should be able to expect reliable, humane, and effective caregiving. Yet too many dying people suffer unnecessarily. While an "overtreated" dying is feared, untreated pain or emotional abandonment are equally frightening. Approaching Death reflects a wide-ranging effort to understand what we know about care at the end of life, what we have yet to learn, and what we know but do not adequately apply. It seeks to build understanding of what constitutes good care for the dying and offers recommendations to decisionmakers that address specific barriers to achieving good care. This volume offers a profile of when, where, and how Americans die. It examines the dimensions of caring at the end of life: Determining diagnosis and prognosis and communicating these to patient and family. Establishing clinical and personal goals. Matching physical, psychological, spiritual, and practical care strategies to the patient's values and circumstances. Approaching Death considers the dying experience in hospitals, nursing homes, and other settings and the role of interdisciplinary teams and managed care. It offers perspectives on quality measurement and improvement, the role of practice guidelines, cost concerns, and legal issues such as assisted suicide. The book proposes how health professionals can become better prepared to care well for those who are dying and to understand that these are not patients for whom "nothing can be done."

Improving Care for the End of Life
Improving Care for the End of Life

Author: Joanne Lynn

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 019531042X

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Health care professionals seeking to improve the quality of life for those living with serious illness and nearing the end of life will find exactly what their organization needs in the second edition of this acclaimed book by Dr. Joanne Lynn and her colleagues. Improving Care for the End of Life provides expert guidance on how to make significant improvements now, at all levels of the health care system from the bedside and the hospital to the health care policy and legislative arenas by using the rapid-cycle breakthrough approach to change. The ideas are proven, and the stories of teams that have put them to use will inspire and enlighten.New to the second edition: DT New chapters to address issues of growing interest such as continuity of care, and the special needs of dementia patients and their loved ones. DT Details on trajectories of care and how these affect decisions at the end of life DT Updated and expanded information on pain management, advance care planning, ventilator withdrawal, depression and delirium, advanced heart and lung disease, and more DT Scores of new insights, measurement approaches, and tips based on the experiences of hundreds of improvement teams nationwide DT Thoroughly updated referencesThe sourcebook speaks to all managers of health care systems serving people with serious illnesses, including doctors in offices, nurse managers on hospital units, social workers in long-term care facilities, administrators of home care and hospice agencies, hospital chaplains, directors of volunteer services, and others.

Palliative Care in Oncology
Palliative Care in Oncology

Author: Bernd Alt-Epping

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-03-26

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 3662462028

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Palliative care provides comprehensive support for severely affected patients with any life-limiting or life-threatening diagnosis. To do this effectively, it requires a disease-specific approach as the patients’ needs and clinical context will vary depending on the underlying diagnosis. Experts in the field of palliative care and oncology describe in detail the needs of patients with advanced cancer in comparison to those with non-cancer disease and also identify the requirements of patients with different cancer entities. Basic principles of symptom control are explained, with careful attention to therapy for pain associated with either the cancer or its treatment and to symptom-guided antineoplastic therapy. Complex therapeutic strategies for palliative cancer patients are highlighted that involve both cancer- and symptom-directed options and address a range of therapeutic aims. Issues relating to drug use in palliative cancer care are fully explored, and a separate section is devoted to care in the final phase. A range of organizational and policy issues are also discussed, and the book concludes by considering likely future developments in palliative care for cancer patients. Palliative Care in Oncology will be of particular interest to palliative care physicians who are interested in broadening the scope of their disease-specific knowledge, as well as to oncologists who wish to learn more about modern palliative care concepts relevant to their day-to-day work with cancer patients.

The Comprehensive Cancer Center
The Comprehensive Cancer Center

Author: Mahmoud Aljurf

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-10-28

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 3030820521

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This open access book provides a valuable resource for hospitals, institutions, and health authorities worldwide in their plans to set up and develop comprehensive cancer care centers. The development and implementation of a comprehensive cancer program allows for a systematic approach to evidence-based strategies of prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and palliation. Comprehensive cancer programs also provide a nexus for the running of clinical trials and implementation of novel cancer therapies with the overall aim of optimizing comprehensive and holistic care of cancer patients and providing them with the best opportunity to improve quality of life and overall survival. This book's self-contained chapter format aims to reinforce the critical importance of comprehensive cancer care centers while providing a practical guide for the essential components needed to achieve them, such as operational considerations, guidelines for best clinical inpatient and outpatient care, and research and quality management structures. Intended to be wide-ranging and applicable at a global level for both high and low income countries, this book is also instructive for regions with limited resources. The Comprehensive Cancer Center: Development, Integration, and Implementation is an essential resource for oncology physicians including hematologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgical oncologists, and oncology nurses as well as hospitals, health departments, university authorities, governments and legislators.

Palliative Day Care
Palliative Day Care

Author: Ronald Fisher

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 1996-03-29

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 9780340625217

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There has been a steady growth in the provision of day care services for people with life-threatening illnesses who live at home. This book includes details of the range of therapies and services that a multi-disciplinary team can provide to address the physical, emotional, psycho-social and spiritual needs of these patients and their families, thus enabling them to remain in their own homes.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States
Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2005-04-13

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0309133424

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Integration of complementary and alternative medicine therapies (CAM) with conventional medicine is occurring in hospitals and physicians offices, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are covering CAM therapies, insurance coverage for CAM is increasing, and integrative medicine centers and clinics are being established, many with close ties to medical schools and teaching hospitals. In determining what care to provide, the goal should be comprehensive care that uses the best scientific evidence available regarding benefits and harm, encourages a focus on healing, recognizes the importance of compassion and caring, emphasizes the centrality of relationship-based care, encourages patients to share in decision making about therapeutic options, and promotes choices in care that can include complementary therapies where appropriate. Numerous approaches to delivering integrative medicine have evolved. Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States identifies an urgent need for health systems research that focuses on identifying the elements of these models, the outcomes of care delivered in these models, and whether these models are cost-effective when compared to conventional practice settings. It outlines areas of research in convention and CAM therapies, ways of integrating these therapies, development of curriculum that provides further education to health professionals, and an amendment of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act to improve quality, accurate labeling, research into use of supplements, incentives for privately funded research into their efficacy, and consumer protection against all potential hazards.

Textbook of Palliative Nursing
Textbook of Palliative Nursing

Author: Department of Nursing Education and Research City of Hope National Medical Center Betty R. Ferrell Research Scientist

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2005-11-10

Total Pages: 1269

ISBN-13: 0199748160

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Originally published in 2001, the Textbook of Palliative Nursing has become the standard text for the field of hospice and palliative care nursing. In this new edition, the authors and editors have updated each chapter to ensure that the content is evidence-based and current references are included. They also have retained the important focus on case studies throughout the text and practical, clinically-relevant tables, figures, and other resources. Like the previous edition, this text has an introductory section of the general principles of palliative care followed by a comprehensive section on symptom assessment and management encompassing twenty-one different symptoms. Other key sections include psychosocial support and spiritual care, providing holistic perspective on care of patients facing advanced disease. The text also includes an innovative section on special populations addressing those most in need of palliative care. The textbook is a useful resource for all nurses with the excellent section on end-of-life care across settings. In this new edition, the pediatric palliative care section has been greatly expanded and includes seven separate chapters on pediatric care. It includes a section on "special issues" addressing topics such as ethical considerations, nursing research, and public policy perspectives and concludes with a section presenting models of excellence including six international models. This edition also offers a narrative on dying based on a spouse's perspective. The text includes an appendix with an extensive list of resources for nurses in the field.