IAHPC BOOK REVIEWS
by Dr. Roger Woodruff
Palliative Care Book of the Month:
A PUBLIC HEALTH PERSPECTIVE ON END OF LIFE CARE
Joachim Cohen and Luc Deliens (Eds)
Oxford University Press, 2012
255 pp
ISBN 978-0-19-959940-0
RRP $US65.00, £34.99
It can be refreshing to read about something, something you may be well acquainted with, when it is viewed from a quite different perspective. This book is about palliative care as a public health issue and is ‘concerned with the quality of end-of-life care of populations, not just the individuals within them.’
There are sections on the epidemiology of dying, the provision of end-of-life care, end-of-life care in different settings, under-served groups, and public health policies regarding end-of-life care. It concludes with a summary of the components necessary for a public health strategy in palliative care. To quote Kathy Foley’s foreword, this book ‘serves to organize and champion the field of palliative care as an important, growing, credible evidence-based public health concern.’
Other Reviews
SUPPORTIVE CARE IN RESPIRATORY DISEASE 2e
Sam H. Ahmedzai, David R. Balwyn and David C. Currow (Eds)
Oxford University Press, 2012
382 pp
ISBN 978-0-19-959176-3
RRP £70.00, $US135.00
Stated simply, supportive care is the multidisciplinary holistic care of patients with chronic and life-limiting illnesses and their families; or, the application of the principles and practices of traditional (terminal-care) palliative care to patients earlier in the course of their disease and those with chronic illnesses.
So, if I were a respiratory physician, I would look to this book to tell me what different therapies or approaches to treatment might lead to better outcomes for my patients with advanced respiratory disease and why. Long discussions about meanings of supportive and palliative care, arguments about service models, and instruction about health economics are unlikely to command my attention or answer my question. Whether or not preventive health measures (e.g. smoking prevention) should be classified as a Type 1 palliative intervention (p6) is totally irrelevant to the supportive care of my patients.
The clinical chapters are significantly more interesting and provide a reasonable overview of the symptomatic and palliative management of respiratory disorders that will be useful for advanced trainees in respiratory medicine and palliative care. The chapter on the pharmacological treatment of respiratory symptoms provides a good discussion on dyspnoea, but what happened to the other respiratory symptoms? As I looked for information demonstrating how a multidisciplinary/supportive care approach would improve the outcomes for patients and their families, it was difficult to find. The list of contributors shows two authors work in psychological medicine, but no one is identified as a social worker, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, pastoral care worker, dietician, or music therapist. If this book is meant to encourage clinicians in respiratory medicine to adopt a different set of principles, then it faces the difficult task of providing an expert review of the palliation of respiratory problems with an emphasis on the benefits of a multidisciplinary/supportive care approach.
CD: BROADWAY MELODIES, Music for Life’s Journey
Bev Foster,
Room217, 2012
905.852.2499
RRP $CAN 19.99
Available at www.room217.ca and iTunes
Another CD of peaceful, reminiscent music from Bev Foster and the room 217 team that will appeal to all those moved by the famous tunes from Broadway. In every way appropriate for the palliative care setting.
Roger Woodruff, MD (Australia)
May 2012
Dr. Woodruff is a Lifetime Member of the IAHPC Board and past Chair. His bio may be found at http://www.hospicecare.com/Bio/r_woodruff.htm
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Note for authors and publishers: If you wish to have your book reviewed, please send to:
Dr Roger Woodruff
IAHPC Bookshop Editor
210 Burgundy St, Suite 9
Heidelberg, Victoria 3084
AUSTRALIA
Note: Review copies become property of IAHPC and are not returned to the author. Only palliative care related books which are previously approved will be reviewed. Due to the large number of requests, we can't provide exact dates of when books will be reviewed.
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