Palliative Care Within Mental Health

Palliative Care Within Mental Health: Ethical Practice explores the comprehensive concerns and dilemmas that occur surrounding people experiencing mental health problems and disorders. Working beyond narrow, stereotypical definitions of palliative care as restricted to terminal cancer patients, this balanced and thought-provoking volume examines the many interrelated issues that face the individual, families, and caregivers, setting the groundwork for improved, ethical relationships and interventions. Chapters by experts and experienced practitioners detail the challenges, concerns, and best practices for ethical care and responses in a variety of individual and treatment contexts. This is an essential and thoughtful new resource for all those involved in the fast-developing field of palliative mental health.

This thought provoking and highly practical book is not just about caring for the dying within mental health but about applying the quality care and practice of palliative care within mental health practice. Multidisciplinary in its approach, it focuses on intervention, treatment, care and practice, and the similarities in practice between palliative care and mental health. This common ground is an excellent foundation for integrating palliative care into mental health care, practice and service delivery. It succinctly covers all aspects of psychological, physical, social, spiritual, sexual, and emotional health. Including authoritative contributions from international experts, each chapter develops a theoretical framework, and then broadens it to include application in practice, addressing what/when/where/why with a definite focus on implementation in practice. Self-assessment exercises, advice for further reading, ideas for reflective practice and a summaries of key points and are also included. The aim is to improve, above all else, the relationships, responses, care and practice necessary to be effective in interventions and treatment with those experiencing mental health concerns and dilemmas. It is ideal for all health, social, psychological, legal and spiritual care students and professionals wanting sound theoretical and practical guidance. It is highly recommended for General Practitioners and General Practice Registrars, health care assistants studying NVQ and health visitors. Educationalists, managers and service developers in health and social care will also appreciate the solution-focused, practical approach.--

Individuals and families face challenges at the end of life that can vary significantly depending on social and cultural contexts, yet more than ever is now known about the needs that cut across the great diversity of experiences in the face of dying and death. A number of behavioural interventions and clinical approaches to addressing these needs have been developed and are available to help providers care for clients and assist them in achieving their goals. Perspectives on Palliative and End-of-Life Care: Disease, Social and Cultural Contexts explores how these interventions can be used to address a range of issues across social and cultural contexts for those in need of end of life care. With perspectives from experienced clinicians, providers, and caregivers from around the world, the book offers a strong foundation in contemporary evidence-based practice alongside seasoned practice insights from the field and explores interventions for people as diverse as HIV caregivers in Africa and individuals dying with dementia. In addition, readers will learn about the process of caring for individuals with chronic illnesses including severe mental illness; weigh the impact of policy regulations on the availability of and access to palliative care and interventions; and be able to compare the different issues experienced by family caregivers and formal caregivers. As the companion volume to Perspectives on Behavioural Interventions in Palliative and End-of-Life Care, this book will be of interest to a wide variety of individuals, such as academics, researchers and postgraduates in the fields of mental health, medicine, psychology and social work. It will also be essential reading for healthcare providers and trainees from psychosocial and palliative medicine, social work and nursing.

"Psychosocial Issues in Palliative Care is for anyone working the field of palliative care, both in the community and in hospitals; this includes those in medicine, nursing, social work, chaplaincy, counseling, primary care, and mental health."--Jacket.

Palliative Psychology provides clinical, evidence-based training in palliative and end of life care for clinical psychologists to accomplish specific therapeutic goals. Chapters provide a clear road map for approaching assessment and treatment by reviewing the use of psychotropic medications for patients with advanced and terminal illness, basic but important aspects of pain medication, in depth psychological and psychiatric assessment for patients with advanced illness and their caregivers, and assessment tools, highlighting the specific clinical contexts for their use. The volume also includes evidence-based psychotherapy models that have been shown effective in treating various manifestations of psychological distress in patients and caregivers. In addition to clinical topics, Palliative Psychology addresses crucial and often sensitive professional issues, including communication and collaboration with medical providers and issues of stress and burnout. Psychologists will learn how to best communicate the results of their assessments and treatment plan goals to other care providers in order to foster collaboration and better position themselves as advocates for their patients. Insight-oriented and practical suggestions will help clinicians manage the emotional intensity of this work and channel the therapeutic potential of their emotional reactions into their work with patients and caregivers.

Psychiatric, or psychosocial, palliative care has transformed palliative medicine. Palliation that neglects psychosocial dimensions of patient and family experience fails to meet contemporary standards of comprehensive palliative care. While a focus on somatic issues has sometimes overshadowed attention to psychological, existential, and spiritual end-of-life challenges, the past decade has seen an all encompassing, multi-disciplinary approach to care for the dying take hold. Written by internationally known psychiatry and palliative care experts, the Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine is an essential reference for all providers of palliative care, including psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health counselors, oncologists, hospice workers, and social workers.

In recent years, palliative care has emerged as the leading model of person-centered care focused on preserving quality of life and alleviating distress for people and families experiencing serious and life-limiting medical illness. Alongside this development has come a growing recognition of the need for expertise in psychiatric diagnosis, psychopharmacology, and psychotherapy within the interdisciplinary team of specialists tasked with identifying and addressing the varied sources of suffering in patients with advanced medical illnesses. The Clinical Manual of Palliative Care Psychiatry was written to motivate and guide readers -- whether mental health clinicians or palliative care providers -- to deepen their understanding of the psychosocial dimensions of suffering for the benefit of seriously ill patients and the support of their families. Great care has been exercised in the choice of topics and features: Chapter content emphasizes practical aspects of assessment and management that are unique to the palliative care setting, ensuring that clinicians are equipped to address the most common challenges they are likely to face. Each chapter ends with a list of supplemental materials -- including key publications (e.g., "Fast Facts" from the Center to Advance Palliative Care) and links to relevant modules from the Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care curriculum (e.g., EPEC for Oncology) -- aimed at extending and enhancing reader knowledge of the topics covered. The authors provide thorough coverage of medication use, including off-label applications, which are common in palliative care. A wealth of tables and figures present clinically relevant information in a concise and easy-to-grasp manner. Practical and brimming with essential information and useful techniques, the Clinical Manual of Palliative Care Psychiatry empowers both mental health clinicians and palliative care practitioners to more skillfully respond to psychosocial suffering in seriously ill and dying patients.