A FEW MONTHS TO LIVE Different Paths to Life’s End
Jana Staton, Roger Shuy and Ira Byock
|
Georgetown University Press, 2001
358pp
ISBN 087840841X
RRP $US26, £13.20
|
This book describes the palliative care Demonstration Project conducted by Dr. Ira Byock and his co-workers in their hometown of Missoula, tucked away in the breathtaking beauty
of the mountains of Montana.
Nine terminally ill patients and their carers were the subjects of the study. Information was prospectively collected by interview throughout the course of the illness. The material
is presented according to the participants’ experience: hearing bad news, planning (or not planning) for their care, doctor-patient communication, understanding their illness, daily life and
meaningful activities, the experience of caregivers, the final days of life, and memorials held after the patient’s death. The use of many direct quotations and recorded conversations greatly
enhances the picture of terminal illness as seen from the patients’ and carers’ points of view.
Whilst this study involved only a small number of patients, it provides in-depth insights into the needs of the terminally ill and their carers that should be particularly useful
for health care professionals and health care planners.
Roger Woodruff
Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia
(June 2004)
Author Information
Jana Staton is a Researcher with the Missoula Demonstration Project.
Roger Shuy is Distinguished Research Professor of Linguistics Emeritus at Georgetown University
Dr. Ira Byock is the Co-Founder and Principal Investigator for the Missoula Demonstration Project.
Table of Contents
1. Study Participants
2. Communicating about Death and Dying
3. Planning and Choices
4. Professional Care and Doctor-patient Communication
5. Knowledge of Illness and Attitudes towards Pain and Death
6. Daily Life and Meaningful Activity
7. Family Care-giving Experience
8. Support and Lack of Support for Family Care-givers
9. Personal Growth, Meaning, and Spirituality
10. The Final Days of Life
11. Memorials at the End of Life
12. Some Directions for Understanding the End of Life
References
Index
