CROSSING OVER
Narratives of Palliative Care
David Barnard, Anna Towers, Patricia Boston, Yanna Lambrinidou (Eds)
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Oxford University Press, 2000
451pp
ISBN 019 512343-3
RRP $US39.95 £29.50
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This is a book of stories. Twenty vivid stories of patients and their families "crossing over" through the course of
terminal illness, collected prospectively over a three-year period. Narrated from the points of view of the patient, the family members and their professional caregivers, it provides invaluable
insights into both giving and receiving palliative care. The extended nature of the stories, from the time of referral to palliative care to bereavement follow-up, provides important perspective
and allows the evolution or resolution of problems to be followed with time.
Through the use of these narratives, this book sets out to portray the physical, psychological, spiritual and social dimensions
of terminal illness and, as such, is complementary to textbooks of palliative medicine.
This book is about the human side of palliative care, viewed in depth and from a variety of perspectives. For students of palliative
care and their teachers, this is a wonderful resource, complete with lists of questions and discussion topics in the final chapter. For those who work in palliative care, this book will stimulate
professional self-reflection and challenge such basic tenets as to whether or not all the things we do and regard as "good" are really beneficial to the patients and their families.
Highly recommended.
Roger Woodruff
