Facing Death – serie

'Insightful and refreshing.' - Professor Dennis Klass, Webster University Religion Department, St. Louis, USA'A tour de force.' - Dr Colin Murray Parkes, OBE, MD, FRCPsych, President of CRUSESome societies and some individuals find a place for their dead, others leave them behind. In recent years, researchers, professionals and bereaved people themselves have struggled with this. Should the bond with the dead be continued or broken? What is clear is that the grieving individual is not left in a social vacuum but has to struggle with expectations from self, family, friends, professionals and academic theorists.This ground-breaking book looks at the social position of the bereaved. They find themselves caught between the living and the dead, sometimes searching for guidelines in a de-ritualized society that has few to offer, sometimes finding their grief inappropriately pathologised and policed. At its best, bereavement care offers reassurance, validation, and freedom to talk where the client has previously encountered judgmentalism.In this unique book, Tony Walter applies sociological insights to one of the most personal of human situations. On Bereavement is aimed at students on medical, nursing, counselling and social work courses that include bereavement as a topic. It will also appeal to sociology students with an interest in death, dying and mortality.

"To those of us who have been aware of the innovative service to families facing death and bereavement that has been developed by David W. Kissane and Sidney Bloch this book has been eagerly awaited. Their work is a logical development in the field of Palliative Care in which it has long been recognized that, when life is threatened, it is the family (which includes the patient) which is, or ought to be, the unit of care.The work also has great relevance for the wider field of bereavement care...all who work to help families at times of death and bereavement will find much to learn from this book which represents a useful addition to our understanding of the losses which, sooner or later, we all have to face." - Colin Murray Parkes

Family members are often intimately involved in the care of dying people and themselves require support through both their experience of palliative care and bereavement. This innovative book describes a comprehensive model of family care and how to go about it - Family Focused Grief Therapy is an approach which is new, preventive, cost effective and with proven benefits to bereaved people. It describes a highly original and creative approach to bereavement care, one likely to revolutionize psychosocial care in oncology, hospice or palliative care and grief work.

The book has been designed rather like a therapy manual, providing a step-by-step approach to assessment and intervention. Its rich illustration through many clinical examples brings the process of therapy alive for the reader, anticipating the common challenges that arise and describing how the therapist might respond. Families are recognised throughout as the central social unit, pivotal to the success of palliative care.

Family Focused Grief Therapy will be of use to doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, pastoral care workers, psychiatrists and other allied health professionals who work in caring for the dying and for their bereaved relatives. Based soundly on a decade of internationally regarded research, this book will alter the direction of future medical practice and is destined to become a classic in its field.

"a must for any specialist and advanced practitioner's bookshelf." Journal of Interpersonal Care

This book focuses on what happens after a death has taken place. Drawing on social theory and anthropology, contributors examine responses to death as they occur within the unique set of cultural, social and historical circumstances which characterizes post-war society. The book does not just document and make sense of contemporary practices but also critically reviews the ways grief, mourning and death ritual have been approached by academics and practitioners in the field. It does this by combining substantial reviews with shorter illustrative examples of grief, mourning and death ritual as they are manifest in specific settings and with defined groups. These illustrative examples include personal and institutional responses to death at different points in the life cycle, and responses to different sorts of death - the death of children and death in disasters for example. The examples include commentaries on bereavement work and on changes in both the funeral industry and memorialization practices.

Grief, Mourning and Death Ritual is aimed at advanced students in sociology, anthropology and psychology with an interest in death, dying and mortality. It is also directly relevant to those concerned with loss and how to respond to it. The book is therefore suitable for use on courses in nursing, palliative care, social work and counselling.

"I enjoyed reading this book very much. It is very readable and well argued using real life cases and thought experiments as well … The book provides the reader with a short history of and an overview of the most important issues in modern palliative care. Various theoretical discussions are clearly set out, such as: the relationship between the hospice movement and modern palliative care, between palliative care and health care in general, between palliative sedation and euthanasia, and the question whether euthanasia can be part of palliative care. The author starts with exploring the existing debates and then develops his own arguments in a balanced and well-structured way."Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy"The text of this book is accessible, the philosophical and ethical arguments are clearly articulated, and relevant ethical principles are integrated into the critique of the issues, making this a very useful book for nurses working in palliative as well as in general care."Nursing Ethics"It is crucially important for any student or researcher who is seriously consideringethical and policy matters at the end of life to embrace and tackle intellectually the issues that Woods raises in this book. I would happily recommend it."Journal of Medical EthicsWhat constitutes a good death?Is it possible to arrange a good death? Is killing compatible with caring?This book looks at death and the issues and ethical dilemmas faced at the end of life. It addresses the central issues in the field such as: Withholding and withdrawing treatmentEuthanasia and assisted suicideTerminal sedationThe role of autonomyPalliative careDrawing on a philosophical framework, the author explores end-of-life issues in order to reflect on the nature of the good death and how this may be achieved. The book considers whether it is permissible or desirable to influence the quality of dying: offering palliative sedation as a possible alternative to terminal sedation, the argument is extended to examine why some forms of assisted dying can be shown to be compatible with the ideas of palliative care.Consideration is also given to future developments such as life extension techniques and the ethical questions that that these techniques might raise. As such, the book follows in the ongoing philosophical tradition to critique and analyse current thought on the topic of death, encouraging self-reflection in the reader and offering suggestions for practice in end-of-life care.Death’s Dominion is key reading for students and professionals involved in care of the dying, as well as those with an interest in the philosophical issues surrounding end-of-life care.