Palliative Care Book of the Month and another Review
Palliative Care Book of the Month
LAST RITES
Rescuing the End of Life from the Medical System
Stephen P. Kiernan
St. Martin’s Griffin, 2006
301pp
ISBN 978-0-312-37464-8
RRP $US14.95, £9.99
This book is about how we can help our loved ones die in peace. The focus is on life and ‘how its waning days could be peaceful and pain-free, and how caring for people at their most vulnerable can be an incredibly fulfilling experience’. It is not about physician-assisted death or grief and bereavement or cultural variations; it is about helping people get the most out of the last bit of their lives.
I was impressed. Written by a professional journalist, an enormous amount of research must have gone into writing this book. His investigative insights are sound and it is a good read.
With lots of stories about patients and their families, Kiernan paints a picture of what happens now and what might be, from the perspectives of the families, the patients, and the professionals. There are a range of suggestions for policy makers, the profession, and the public at large as to how things could be improved.
Enjoyable and insightful.
Other Reviews
DEMENTIA
From Advanced Disease to Bereavement
Victor Pace, Adrian Treloar and Sharon Scott (Eds)
Oxford University Press, 2011
426 pp
ISBN 978-0-19-923780-7
RRP £37.95, $US75.00
This is a concise A to Z of dementia in a pocket–size Oxford Specialist Handbook. There are good descriptions of the different types and clinical features of dementia and a comprehensive coverage of the treatment of pain and physical symptoms as well as psychosocial concerns. The book is packed with information with liberal use of tables and bullet-point lists. The set-out and table of contents are good, making the information accessible. This would be a very useful reference to have on any palliative care ward and I was struck by the many similarities between the management of dementia and mainstream palliative care.
OXFORD TEXTBOOK OF PALLIATIVE MEDICINE 4e (Paperback)
Hanks, Cherny, Christakis, Fallon, Kaasa and Portenoy (Eds)
Oxford University Press, 2011
1666 pp
ISBN 978-0-19-969314-6
RRP £80.00, $US155.00
This is the paperback edition of OTPM 4e. It weighs the same but costs less than half the hardback edition. If you thought the original was a bit too expensive, is it worth considering buying this paperback edition given that a 5th edition is likely to appear in the next two years or so? I think the answer is yes, as the great majority of the material in this book will remain current for significantly longer than that.
My comments on the hardback 4e can be viewed at www.hospicecare.com/news/10/01/reviews.html from Jan 2010. My opinion remains, given the presentation and the depth of coverage to be found in OTPM 4e, that it deserves its position as the gold standard in palliative medicine.
These reviews are by Dr. Roger Woodruff who resides in Australia and is a Lifetime member of the IAHPC Board and past Chair. You may read his biography at: http://www.hospicecare.com/Bio/r_woodruff.htm
View over 100+ IAHPC hospice & palliative care book reviews
www.hospicecare.com/bookshop/hospice-palliative-care-book-reviews
Note for authors: If you wish to have your book reviewed, please send to:
Dr Roger Woodruff
IAHPC Bookshop Editor
210 Burgundy St, Suite 9
Heidelberg, Victoria 3084
AUSTRALIA
Note: Review copies become property of IAHPC and are not returned to the author. Only palliative care related books which are previously approved will be reviewed. Due to the large number of requests, we can't provide exact dates of when books will be reviewed.
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