Christina Puchalski

Handbook of Supportive Oncology and Palliative Care is a practical guide to providing evidence-based and value-based care to adult and pediatric cancer patients experiencing severe symptoms and stressors due to cancer diagnosis, cancer treatment, and comorbid conditions. This accessible reference provides the art and science behind the whole-person and family approach to care by delivering the best practices to relieving a cancer patient’s symptoms across physical, psychosocial, and spiritual dimensions. Unlike other resources, this book covers all dimensions of palliative care but with a special emphasis on primary palliative care. Part One of the handbook provides the essential background and principles of supportive oncology and palliative care, including chapters on understanding the adult and pediatric patient and family illness experience, the roles and responsibilities of the palliative care team, and the art of the palliative care assessment interview. Part Two covers symptom management and includes ten chapters considering the major physical and psychosocial symptoms a cancer patient may face—neurologic, cardiac, respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, psychiatric, sleep and fatigue, pain, and psychosocial and spiritual distress. Part Three addresses special considerations and issues that an oncologist, physician, nurse or other healthcare provider often face in these settings, including chapters on intimacy, sexuality, and fertility issues, grief and bereavement, running a family meeting, care for the caregiver, and survivorship. Written by expert clinicians, this state-of-the-art handbook is a necessary resource for any oncologist, nurse, primary care physician, psychosocial expert, or related practitioner who endeavors to improve quality of life and provide healing to those suffering from cancer and its treatment. Key Features: Provides the binding principles of palliative care for pediatrics, adults and families from diverse cultures and spiritual beliefs Easy-to-read format makes extracting content fast and convenient for both the clinical and educational setting Guides the clinician and practitioner through the palliative care assessment process, including the appropriate questions for the palliative care interview Interdisciplinary team approach to psychosocial and spiritual care Includes access to the fully searchable downloadable eBook

These diverse case studies make a compelling case for the importance of effective spiritual care in healthcare and provide unprecedented insight into the essential role of the chaplain within the healthcare team. Presented alongside critical reflections and responses from professionals within chaplaincy, psychology, psychiatry and nursing, they provide an honest and detailed look into how healthcare chaplains actually work with the people in their care and reveal the vital role of narrative and imagination in effective transformative practice. From a 16-year-old with a belief that God would enable a miraculous recovery from paralysis, to an African man with a history of psychosis and depression whose cultural belief in witches complicated his treatment, to a dying Jewish man, aggressive and isolated due to his traumatic life experiences, each case includes insight into the patient's needs and chaplain's perspectives, discussion of spiritual assessments and spiritual care interventions, and accounts of significant encounters and dialogues. The nine paediatric, psychiatric and palliative case studies and reflections in this ground-breaking book will enable chaplains to critically reflect on the spiritual care they provide and communicate their work more effectively, help healthcare professionals develop a clearer understanding of the care chaplains deliver, and provide an informed perspective for those who develop policy around spiritual care and need to make the case for chaplaincy services.

In the last fifteen years, the field of palliative care has experienced a surge in interest in spirituality as an important aspect of caring for seriously ill and dying patients. While spirituality has been generally recognized as an essential dimension of palliative care, uniformity of spiritual care practice has been lacking across health care settings due to factors like varying understandings and definitions of spirituality, lack of resources and practical tools, and limited professional education and training in spiritual care. In order to address these shortcomings, more than forty spiritual and palliative care experts gathered for a national conference to discuss guidelines for incorporating spirituality into palliative care. Their consensus findings form the basis of Making Health Care Whole. This important new resource provides much-needed definitions and charts a common language for addressing spiritual care across the disciplines of medicine, nursing, social work, chaplaincy, psychology, and other groups. It presents models of spiritual care that are broad and inclusive, and provides tools for screening, assessment, care planning, and interventions. This book also advocates a team approach to spiritual care, and specifies the roles of each professional on the team. Serving as both a scholarly review of the field as well as a practical resource with specific recommendations to improve spiritual care in clinical practice, Making Health Care Whole will benefit hospices and palliative care programs in hospitals, home care services, and long-term care services. It will also be a valuable addition to the curriculum at seminaries, schools of theology, and medical and nursing schools.