The Conversations Of Palliative Care

This book will be the first of its kind to offer intensive conversation analysis on patient-clinician interactions in the context of palliative medicine. The book focuses on a series of individual case studies of conversations that revolve, in each case, around one key critical term that is often evoked or understood differently by clinicians and patients.

The story of the end-of-life experience of a palliative care physician who helped thousands of patients to die well. We all die. Most of us spend the majority of our lives ignoring this uncomfortable truth, but Dr. Larry Librach dedicated his life and his career to helping his patients navigate their final journey. Then, in April 2013, Larry was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. Unlike the majority of us, Larry knew the death he wanted. He wanted to die at home, surrounded by his family: his wife of forty years, his children, and his grandchildren. He did. He was peaceful and calm at the end. Larry proved that the “good death” isn’t a myth. It can be done, and he showed us how. Ever the teacher, Larry made his last journey a teachable moment on how to die the best death possible, even with a pernicious disease. As hard as it is to guide patients toward dying well, it is far harder to live those precepts day by day as the clock ticks down to one’s own death, but Larry, together with author Phil Dwyer, chronicled his final journey with courage and humour.

In this "enlightening" (Jane Brody, New York Times) book, Harvard Medical School physician Angelo E. Volandes offers a solution to traumatic end-of-life care: talking, medicine's oldest tool. There is an unspoken dark side of American medicine--keeping patients alive at any price. Two thirds of Americans die in healthcare institutions, tethered to machines and tubes at bankrupting costs, even though research shows that most prefer to die at home in comfort, surrounded by loved ones. Dr. Angelo E. Volandes believes that a life well lived deserves a good ending. Through the stories of seven patients and seven very different end-of-life experiences, he demonstrates that what people with a serious illness, who are approaching the end of their lives, need most is not new technologies but one simple thing: The Conversation. He argues for a radical re-envisioning of the patient-doctor relationship and offers ways for patients and their families to talk about this difficult issue to ensure that patients will be at the center and in charge of their medical care. It might be the most important conversation you ever have.

I spend my days explaining to people how they can expect to die. The Conversations of Palliative Care is a book related to decisions people have to make at end of life as well as those asked of them in the months or years leading up to then. It is a book designed to get people to begin to realize how their illnesses affect them and what the natural course of their illness is expected to be. A variety of topics related to this unique time in a person’s life is described as well as considerations for those who provide palliative care. Symptom management, staff angst, ethical issues, documentation, religious and social needs are addressed as well as specifics related to disease states, among other issues. The information is then personified through case studies: within a hospital, at a private residence, and a pediatric vignette. The purpose of this book is to raise awareness to end-of-life decisions patients are asked to make while increasing the comfort level of the medical staff who care for them. Ultimately, palliative care increases patient empowerment and knowledge about their bodies and unique set of medical diagnoses. Decisions they ultimately make regarding medical interventions are aligned to their person beliefs. These decisions are truly made in an educated manner. Utilized correctly, palliative care follows a person throughout the health care continuum. .

Physicians who care for patients with life-threatening illnesses face daunting communication challenges. Patients and family members can react to difficult news with sadness, distress, anger, or denial. This book defines the specific communication tasks involved in talking with patients with life-threatening illnesses and their families. Topics include delivering bad news, transition to palliative care, discussing goals of advance-care planning and do-not-resuscitate orders, existential and spiritual issues, family conferences, medical futility, and other conflicts at the end of life. Drs Anthony Back, Robert Arnold, and James Tulsky bring together empirical research as well as their own experience to provide a roadmap through difficult conversations about life-threatening issues. The book offers both a theoretical framework and practical conversational tools that the practising physician and clinician can use to improve communication skills, increase satisfaction, and protect themselves from burnout.

From Ira Byock, prominent palliative care physician and expert in end of life decisions, a lesson in Dying Well. Nobody should have to die in pain. Nobody should have to die alone. This is Ira Byock's dream, and he is dedicating his life to making it come true. Dying Well brings us to the homes and bedsides of families with whom Dr. Byock has worked, telling stories of love and reconciliation in the face of tragedy, pain, medical drama, and conflict. Through the true stories of patients, he shows us that a lot of important emotional work can be accomplished in the final months, weeks, and even days of life. It is a companion for families, showing them how to deal with doctors, how to talk to loved ones—and how to make the end of life as meaningful and enriching as the beginning. Ira Byock is also the author of The Best Care Possible: A Physician's Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life.

'The Textbook of Palliative Care Communication' is the authoritative text on communication in palliative care. Uniquely developed by an interdisciplinary editorial team to address an array of providers including physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains, it unites clinicians and academic researchers interested in the study of communication.

Dying - which we all inevitably must do - can be appreciably better for each of us if we approach end of life conversations early, while we still have the capacity to make our own decisions. This book can help us all with this. In addition, Courageous Conversations on Dying guides physicians in their role of supporting patients and families through decision-making for end of life, concentrating on patients' goals. Whether we are physicians, patients, family members, or caring individuals who want the best possible end of life experience for ourselves and each other, we must acquire the skills for loving, fruitful conversations. In this book, you'll learn how to prepare for these conversations, including what kind of setting, what words to use, how to be a good listener, how to empathize, how to help in decision-making, how to properly document end of life wishes, and more, along with many case studies to illustrate the points.