Having just completed the manuscript for the 4th edition of my own Palliative Medicine, I was left with the clear impression that
the psychosocial aspects of clinical care in Palliative Medicine remain underdeveloped. Our knowledge of the incidence and prevalence, clinical features, nevermind the optimal management, of
many of the psychosocial problems faced by our patients and their families is inadequate.
Here is a clearly-written, up to date summary of what we know about psychosocial care in the practice of palliative medicine. Chapters cover
anxiety, depression, spiritual care, the social impact of advanced disease, and bereavement care. Good communication is the lynch-pin of psychosocial care and there is a particularly useful chapter
on how to communicate better, appropriately placed near the front of the volume. The chapter on self-care for palliative care workers is particularly relevant, because it is dealing with the
psychosocial aspects of care that are likely to be stressful.
Reading this book will be of benefit to any and all of the members of the palliative care team. It will improve their insight to the psychosocial
distress suffered by our patients and their families, and better equip them to deal with it. It should also provide a stimulus for the systematic study and review of these problems, from which
improved management strategies can be developed in the future. This book should be in your palliative care service library.
Roger Woodruff
Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia
(July 2003)
Author Information
Mari Lloyd-Williams is Director of Community Studies at the University of Liverpool Medical School and Consultant in Palliative Medicine at
the Liverpool Marie Curie Centre and Royal Liverpool Hospital
Table of Contents
!. What do we mean by psychosocial care in palliative care? 1
Jeffrey
2. Communication issues 13
Heaven & Maguire
3. Social impact of advanced metastatic cancer 35
Sheldon
4. Current provision of psychosocial care within palliative care 49
Leslie Walker, Mary Walker & Sharp
5. Anxiety and adjustment disorders 67
Passik & Kirsh
6. Diagnosis, assessment and treatment of depression in palliative care 81
Pressin, Potash & Breitbart
7. Screening for depression in palliative care 105
Mari Lloyd-Williams
8. Psychosocial care for non-malignant disease 119
Macleod
9. Spiritual care 135
Mark Cobb
10. Bereavement care 149
Payne & Lloyd-Williams
11. Staff stress, suffering and compassion in palliative care 165
Vachon & Benor
12. Psychosocial care - the future 183
Mari Lloyd-Williams
Index 189
