Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) encompass an array of distinct illnesses with unique clinical manifestations, management strategies, and disease courses. Three specific diseases have been chosen for this chapter in an effort…
A textbook on palliative care would not be complete without a chapter on kidney disease. Palliative care is especially appropriate for patients with kidney disease who are undergoing dialysis because…
An 82-year-old woman who had not been to a physician in over 30 years was admitted to the hospital with fatigue and dyspnea. At home, she had been bedbound for…
The death of someone close is never easy. No one can escape the experience of dying or death. Everyone at the dying person’s bedside will be watching the potential for…
Cancer survivors and their families face myriad challenges related to their disease and its treatment. This life-changing journey begins the moment they hear “cancer.” Palliative care of the oncology patient…
Background and Significance Although death is universal, dying is very much a culturally specific experience. Culture refers to learned patterns of behaviors, beliefs, and values shared by individuals in a…
As the field of palliative care has grown and evolved, so also has an evolution occurred in the ethical and legal issues that are associated with care at the end…
Overview Advance care planning is a process that aims to align medical decisions with patient values and preferences in the event that the patient cannot communicate. In the context of…
The palliative care movement developed in response to concerns that care at the end of life had been badly done in the midst of the acute care and technologic advances…
