Index:

Here is a book that covers all aspects of communicating with the relatives in oncology and palliative care. Originally published in 1996, Amazon.co.uk indicates that it is still available, and so it should be. The information about communication in this book is steeped in clinical experience and common sense, rather than tied to any rules. The text is enhanced by lists of 'key points' and 'useful options and reminders'. Numerous quotations from actual interviews are effectively used to demonstrate different points. The last chapter on dealing with the angry relative is particularly useful. This book will enable anyone working in oncology and palliative care to communicate better with the relatives.

Education in cancer and palliative care has evolved rapidly in recent years, at the same time that there has been a revolution in electronic information delivery. So what are the bet strategies and methods for delivering such education? Just as importantly, how do we enable our students to be independent learners and critical thinkers?

This book is directed at those responsible for cancer and palliative care education, both primary and on a continuing basis. It describes a wide range of methods and techniques, covering a spectrum of educational topics in palliative care. Chapters cover the relationship between education and clinical governance, education about "morphine myths", death anxiety, spirituality and life review, psychoneuroimmunology, aromatherapy, and why and how palliative care education should be evaluated. This book will be a welcome and most useful resource for educationalists in the field of cancer and palliative care.

ORDER Through Radcliffe

This is a wonderfully stimulating and entertaining collection of quotations covering all aspects of medicine, from antiquity to the present. You can browse, reflect, smile, and even laugh out loud.

Here's a tiny taste

Before you tell the 'truth' to the patient, be sure you know the 'truth' and that the patient wants to hear it.
(Chinese Proverb)

He who fears to suffer, suffers from fear.
(French Proverb)

We palliate what we cannot cure.
(Samuel Johnson 1709-84)

A medical revolution has extended the life of our elder citizens without providing the dignity and security those later years deserve.
(John F. Kennedy 1917-63)

Body and soul cannot be separated for purposes of treatment, for they are one and indivisible.
(Dr. C. Jeff Miller 1874-1936)

Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicines as we used to know them.
(George W. Bush)

Wonderful reading!

Roger Woodruff
Medical Oncologist and Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia
September 2004