Hospice Palliative Care
Book Reviews
Dr. Woodruff, MD
(Australia)
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A TIME FOR LISTENING AND CARING
Spirituality And The Care Of The Chronically Ill And Dying
Christina M. Puchalski
Oxford University Press, 2006
458 pp
ISBN 0-19-5146872-4
RRP $US44.50, £27.00
This is my Palliative Care Book of the Year!
‘The relationships we form with our patients, clients, and colleagues are born out of a compassionate connection and call to service. From this connection and call comes forth the healing that is so necessary in all of our lives, whether we are currently ill or not. We are not mechanics, taking care of people’s broken parts. We are partners with our patients in a therapeutic relationship from which brings forth potential for healing. That healing may manifest itself as a peacefulness, acceptance, better coping, happiness, or contentment. In the end, a life that may be shattered from illness and stress becomes whole again. By our presence, we serve others and walk with them in the midst of suffering and joy. This is why spirituality is essential to health care.’
This book explores all aspects of the spiritual dimensions of medicine in the management of patients who may be chronically ill or dying. Five of the 24 chapters were written by Puchalski, the others by experienced clinicians, chaplains, caregivers and educators. The first part of the book describes the role of spirituality in the healthcare of adults and children, the ethical aspects of integrating spirituality into the care of patients, and the spirituality of the caregiver. Part II describes the theological implications of spiritual care at the end of life from a number of different perspectives including Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Jews and Muslims. The third part is about practical tools that can be used in clinical practice—spiritual histories, honoring the patient’s stories, grief and bereavement, and the role of art, music and dance. The chapter on music therapy is by Michael Stillwater and Gary Malkin who created the wonderful Graceful Passages and Care for the Journey CDs that were reviewed here last year. The closing section presents the stories and reflections of two of Dr Puchalski’s patients.
Anybody who works in palliative care will be enriched by reading this book. Although we nod and agree that spiritual care is an important and integral part of holistic palliative medicine, dealing with problems related to spirituality in more than the most superficial way is not easy for many palliative care workers, particularly if their job is busy. If you want to learn about all the other things you can or should be doing at the bedside, read this book. Being able to practice the spiritual dimensions of palliative care will be of benefit to your patients, more of whom will die in peace, with dignity. And it will quite probably enhance the professional satisfaction you get working with the dying.
Thank you, Dr Puchalski.
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LIVING THROUGH LOSS
Interventions Across The Life Span
Nancy R. Hooyman and Betty J. Kramer
Columbia University Press 2006
452 pp
ISBN 0-231-12246-2
RRP $US65.00, £42.00
Here is a well-written and comprehensively researched book covering all aspects of the universal human predicament that is loss and grief. The opening chapters discuss the theories of grief and the processes involved. The main body of the book consists of pairs of chapters, the first discussing grief and loss in a particular age group, followed by one about appropriate interventions – for children, adolescents, young adults, midlife adults, and older adults. Both loss through death and loss not related to death are discussed. The final chapter is about professional self-awareness and self-care.
For social workers in particular, but also for any other health care professionals who are involved with helping others deal with loss and grief, this book is both a mine of information and provides an enormous amount of food for thought and reflection.
Highly recommended.
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11th WORLD CONGRESS ON PAIN
Herta Flor, Eija Kalso and Jonathan Dostrovsky (Eds)
International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) 2006
882 pp
ISBN 0-931092-60-4
RRP $US 80.00
The 11th IASP World Congress on Pain was held in Sydney , Australia in August 2005. This book contains a total of 75 chapters organized into nine sections with 20 plenary lectures, 26 workshop contributions and 29 papers based on free communications, selected to provide the reader with a broad range of cutting-edge topics in the field of pain, topics that address basic research as well as clinical applications and health policy issues. The sections cover Perspectives of Pain, Molecular and Cellular aspects of Pain, Nociceptive Pathways and Central Processing, Imaging Pain, Opioids: Mechanisms and Therapy, Psychological and Psychosocial Factors, Gender Issues and Epidemiology of Pain, Specific Clinical Syndromes and Symptoms, Pain Assessment and Outcome measurement, and Psychological Interventions, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Approaches.
The wealth of information presented in this book is a reminder of how rapidly the study of pain is growing. For anyone working in the field, there is lots of interesting stuff in this book, which certainly should be on the library shelf in the pain clinic.
Roger Woodruff
Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health,
Melbourne, Australia
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