Doctors, nurses and all healthcare professionals dealing with patients with advanced and terminal disease will find this book essential reading.

This established and well-regarded Guide describes the management of patients with advanced disease. Its foundation is a clinical decision-making approach in which the patient's information guides the professional's approach to appropriate management. This Sixth Edition has been fully updated, reflecting the latest advances in knowledge and care of cancer and non-cancer patients with advanced disease, including children and people with severe communication difficulties. Sections on symptoms other than pain and emergencies are set out alphabetically, with the Emergencies section now located at the end of the book for ease of reference. The Drug Information section has been extensively updated, and colour and design refinements introduced throughout for greater clarity and emphasis. All references continue to be categorised to make their evidence base clearer. Maintaining the high standard set by previous editions over the past quarter-century, this continues to be the definitive guide to palliative care symptom relief for professionals in a wide variety of caring environments.

Fully revised and updated, this remains the definitive guide to palliative care symptom relief for professionals in varied caring environments.

This practical guide briefly covers the historical and epidemiological background of palliative care and the growth of palliative medicine as a specialty, before dealing with major physical, psychological, spiritual, and symptom management issues from diagnosis to bereavement care.

This highly regarded handbook provides clinicians with the information they need to treat their cancer patients effectively and compassionately. This comprehensive guide to managing pain and other symptoms for people with cancer has helped tens of thousands of patients and families. Designed for busy practicing clinicians, A Physician's Guide to Pain and Symptom Management in Cancer Patients provides primary care physicians, advanced practice nurses, internists, and oncologists with detailed information and advice for alleviating the stress and pain of patients and family members alike. Drawing on the work of experts who have developed revolutionary approaches to symptom management and palliative care, as well as on the lessons learned from patients and their families during her thirty years as a teacher and clinician, Dr. Janet L. Abrahm shows how physicians and other caregivers can help patients and families heal emotionally even as the disease progresses. The third edition includes updates to medications and clinical stories, and features two new chapters: “Working with Patients’ Families” and “Sexuality, Intimacy, and Cancer.” New lessons from palliative care and hospice care can help patients, their professional caregivers, and their families support each other every step of the way.

Janet L. Abrahm argues that all causes of suffering experienced by people with cancer, be they physical, psychological, social, or spiritual, should be treated at all stages: at diagnosis, during curative therapy, in the event that cancer recurs, and during the final months. In the second edition of this symptom-oriented guide, she provides primary care physicians, advanced practice nurses, internists and oncologists with detailed information and advice for alleviating the stress and pain of patients and family members alike. The new edition includes the latest information on patient and family communication and counseling, on medical, surgical, and complementary and alternative treatments for symptoms caused by cancer and cancer treatments, and on caring for patients in the last days and their bereaved families. Updated case histories, medication tables, Practice Points, and bibliographies provide clinicians with the information they need to treat their cancer patients effectively and compassionately.

Emphasising the multi-disciplinary nature of palliative care, the fourth edition of this text also looks at the individual professional roles that contribute to the best-quality palliative care.

All children have a right to appropriate prevention, assessment andcontrol of their pain. Managing Pain in Children is anevidence-based, practical guide to care in all areas of children'spain management, providing nurses and other health carepractitioners with the skills and expertise necessary to managechildren's pain effectively. The text first explores the relevant anatomy and physiology ofchildren, the latest policy guidelines surrounding pain managementand ethical issues involved in managing children's pain. It thengoes on to look at the various pain assessment tools available forchildren and non-drug methods of pain relief. The text then goes onto apply these pain management principles to practice in relationto acute pain, chronic pain, palliative care and the management ofprocedural pain. Each of these chapters covers the evidence base,assessment techniques, pain relieving interventions, and guidancefor best practice in both hospital and community settings. Special features: Practical and accessible, with 'best practice' points in eachchapter Written in the context of latest policy developments Provides the necessary evidence-base for care throughout With contributions from experts in the field

Palliative medicine was first recognised as a specialist field in 1987. One hundred years earlier, London based doctor William Munk published a treatise on 'easeful death' that mapped out the principles of practical, spiritual, and medical support at the end of life. In the intervening years a major process of development took place which led to innovative services, new approaches to the study and relief of pain and other symptoms, a growing interest in 'holistic' care, and a desire to gain more recognition for care at the end of life. This book traces the history of palliative medicine, from its nineteenth-century origins, to its modern practice around the world. It takes in the changing meaning of 'euthanasia', assesses the role of religious and philanthropic organisations in the creation of homes for the dying, and explores how twentieth-century doctors created a special focus on end of life care. To Comfort Always traces the rise of clinical studies, academic programmes and international collaborations to promote palliative care. It examines the continuing need to support development with evidence, and assesses the dilemmas of unequal access to services and pain relieving drugs, as well as the periodic accusations of creeping medicalization within the field. This is the first history of its kind, and the breadth of information it encompasses makes it an essential resource for those interested in the long-term achievements of palliative medicine as well as the challenges that remain.

This book provides, in a single cohesive source, all the information a health care professional needs to diagnose and select appropriate treatments for the patient with pain associated with cancer. The book is clinically oriented and comprehensively addresses all the issues surrounding modern cancer pain management. The authors provide detailed information on common but difficult to treat cancer pain scenarios. Coverage includes state-of-the-art information on treatment options and discussions of the impact of radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery on pain management. This authoritative, comprehensive clinical reference is essential for all clinicians who treat patients with cancer, including medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, pain specialists, anesthesiologists, primary care physicians, internists, and nurses.