Katharina Heimerl – författare

Participatory research is a relatively new method of researching practice especially within palliative care. It differs from other methodologies in that there is an expectation of action within the research process. The values that underpin participatory research are collaboration, empowerment, and reflection. In the current climate of collaboration and working with people in healthcare, participatory research methods are gaining increasing interest when there is a desire to bring about change. Organisational change is becoming an important focus as we look at ways of not only reducing costs but at the same time improving quality of care.While palliative care puts the patient and family at the centre, Participatory Research in Palliative Care discusses a new research methodology that puts practitioners at the heart of the research process as collaborators who work together with researchers to resolve problems in practice.Divided into three sections, it provides theoretical groundings of action research, a greater focus on exemplars from studies within palliative care, and discusses prominent issues when using such a methodology. All three sections are illustrated by an action research study undertaken by the author within a palliative care setting. Participatory Research in Palliative Care is written by international, multi-disciplinary authors who explore a collaborative approach to embark on research. It will appeal to health and social care professionals, academics undertaking research within palliative care, and the management of organisations where people with end of life care needs are cared for, including long-term care homes.

Compassionate communities are communities that provide assistance for those in need of end of life care, separate from any official heath service provision that may already be available within the community. This idea was developed in 2005 in Allan Kellehear’s seminal volume- Compassionate Cities: Public Health and End of Life Care. In the ensuing ten years the theoretical aspects of the idea have been continually explored, primarily rehearsing academic concerns rather than practical ones. Compassionate Communities: Case Studies from Britain and Europe provides the first major volume describing and examining compassionate community experiments in end of life care from a highly practical perspective. Focusing on community development initiatives and practice challenges, the book offers practitioners and policy makers from the health and social care sectors practical discussions on the strengths and limitations of such initiatives. Furthermore, not limited to providing practice choices the book also offers an important and timely impetus for other practitioners and policy makers to begin thinking about developing their own possible compassionate communities. An essential read for academic, practitioner, and policy audiences in the fields of public health, community development, health social sciences, aged care, bereavement care, and hospice & palliative care, Compassionate Communities is one of only a handful of available books on end of life care that takes a strong health promotion and community development approach.

Compassionate communities are communities that provide assistance for those in need of end of life care, separate from any official heath service provision that may already be available within the community. This idea was developed in 2005 in Allan Kellehear’s seminal volume- Compassionate Cities: Public Health and End of Life Care. In the ensuing ten years the theoretical aspects of the idea have been continually explored, primarily rehearsing academic concerns rather than practical ones.Compassionate Communities: Case Studies from Britain and Europe provides the first major volume describing and examining compassionate community experiments in end of life care from a highly practical perspective. Focusing on community development initiatives and practice challenges, the book offers practitioners and policy makers from the health and social care sectors practical discussions on the strengths and limitations of such initiatives. Furthermore, not limited to providing practice choices the book also offers an important and timely impetus for other practitioners and policy makers to begin thinking about developing their own possible compassionate communities. An essential read for academic, practitioner, and policy audiences in the fields of public health, community development, health social sciences, aged care, bereavement care, and hospice & palliative care, Compassionate Communities is one of only a handful of available books on end of life care that takes a strong health promotion and community development approach.

Gute Lebensqualität für demenzkranke HochbetagteDemenz ist unheilbar, die Diagnose besiegelt den Verlauf. Daher brauchen Demenzkranke bereits lange vor dem Tod palliative Betreuung. Gute Lebensqualität für Demenzkranke bedeutet vor allem menschliche Zuwendung. Die Kunst der mitfühlenden Kommunikation, das „Berührbarsein“, ist ein wesentlicher Teil der Symptomkontrolle. Erst durch eine lebendige Beziehung zu den Kranken und „einem Gefühl“ für ihr Verhalten kann Hilfe wirksam, können „gute“ Entscheidungen getroffen werden. Die Autorinnen und Autoren haben jahrzehntelange Erfahrung in der palliativen Betreuung demenzkranker Hochbetagter und geben ihr Know-how mit einem hohen Maß an Empathie und Wertschätzung weiter. Sie setzen sich dabei unter anderem mit Fragen der Kommunikation, der Symptomlinderung und mit ethischen Aspekten auseinander. Die dritte Auflage wurde aktualisiert und mit neuen Kapiteln zu aktuellen Themen erweitert, wie z. B. Beziehungsgestaltung und Demenz im Krankenhaus bzw. in der ambulanten Pflege.Inhalt:Kommunikation als geriatrische SymptomkontrolleSymptomkontrolle bei Schmerzen, Essstörungen, Multimorbidität und Gebrechlichkeit sowie in der letzten LebensphaseMenschenrechteMenschenbild und HaltungEthikAngehörigeDemenzkranke Menschen in der ambulanten Pflege und im Krankenhaus