From one of the worlds leading medical journals comes the definitive evidence-based, full-color guide to end-of-life and palliative care
...represents an important milestone in the evolution of care for people with advanced disease-for which its editors and authors and JAMA should be rightly proud. It is wonderful that JAMA had the foresight to publish a series on this topic, which, as medicine has become more technologically advanced and subspecialized, is often overlooked and, sometimes worse, avoided....this book will be invaluable for front-line clinicians, and indeed all health care practitionersas care at the close of life is a part of almost all of medicines specialties and settings. --Irene J. Higginson, BMBS, PhD, FPPHM, FRCP; Dept. of Palliative Care, Policy, & Rehabilitation; Cicely Saunders Institute; King's College London (from the foreword)
A new addition to the JAMAevidence series, Care at the Close of Life: Evidence and Experience offers evidence-based and clinical expert guidance on caring for patients with life-limiting illness, incorporating the words and perspectives of affected patients, their families, and treating clinicians.
Organized by these actual clinical cases, the book is based on the acclaimed 7-year series of 42 articles, originally published in JAMA as Perspectives on Care at the Close of Life, and now thoroughly updated as chapters and featuring extensive never-before-published material. Care at the Close of Life covers are a wide range of clinical syndromes, disease processes, communication challenges, health-care delivery settings, and issues faced by patients, including withdrawal of dialysis and other life-sustaining measures, cross-cultural approaches, and the role of chemotherapy. Throughout the book, emphasis is on the principles of palliative care, with the patient and family at the center of care, and with attention given to all problemsphysical, psychological, social, and spiritual.
Reflecting this focus, each chapter begins with a patient case study to introduce the clinical problem, followed by perspectives that draw on extensive, real-world dialogue between clinicians, patients, and families. Internationally renowned authors then review the typical challenges illustrated by the case, offering state-of-the-art, evidence-based assessment and treatment approaches.
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