Death, dying, loss, and care giving are not just medical issues, but societal ones. Palliative care has become increasingly professionalised, focused around symptom science. With this emphasis on minimizing the harms of physical, psychological, and spiritual stress, there has been a loss of how cultures and communities look after their dying, with the wider social experience of death often sidelined in the professionalisation and medicalisation of care. However, the people we know and love in the places we know and love make up what matters most for those undergoing the experiences of death, loss, and care giving. Over the last 25 years the theory, practice, research evidence base, and clinical applications have developed, generating widespread adoption of the principles of public health approaches to palliative care. The essential principles of prevention, harm reduction, early intervention, and health and wellbeing promotion can be applied to the universal experience of end of life, irrespective of disease or diagnosis. Compassionate communities have become a routine part of the strategy and service development in palliative care, both within the UK and internationally. The Oxford Textbook of Public Health Palliative Care provides a reframing of palliative care, bringing together the full scope of theory, practice, and evidence into one volume. Written by international leaders in the field, it provides the first truly comprehensive and authoritative textbook on the subject that will help to further inform developments in this growing specialty.

The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Nursing remains the most comprehensive treatise on the art and science of palliative care nursing available. Dr. Betty Rolling Ferrell and Dr. Judith A. Paice have invited 162 nursing experts to contribute 76 chapters addressing the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs pertinent to the successful palliative care team. Organized within 7 Sections, this new edition covers the gamut of principles of care: from the time of initial diagnosis of a serious illness to the end of a patient's life and beyond. This fifth edition features several new chapters, including chapters on advance care planning, organ donation, self-care, global palliative care, and the ethos of palliative nursing. Each chapter is rich with tables and figures, case examples for improved learning, and a strong evidence-based practice to support the highest quality of care. The book offers a valuable and practical resource for students and clinicians across all settings of care. The content is relevant for specialty hospice agencies and palliative care programs, as well as generalist knowledge for schools of nursing, oncology, critical care, and pediatric. Developed with the intention of emphasizing the need to extend palliative care beyond the specialty to be integrated in all settings and by all clinicians caring for the seriously ill, this new edition will continue to serve as the cornerstone of palliative care education.

This sixth edition of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine takes us now into the third decade for this definitive award-winning textbook. It has been rigorously updated to offer a truly global perspective, highlighting the best current evidence-based practices, and collective wisdom from more than 200 experts around the world. This leading textbook covers all the new and emerging topics, updated and restructured to reflect major developments in the increasingly widespread acceptance of palliative medicine as a fundamental public health need. The sixth edition includes new sections devoted to family and caregiver issues, cardio-respiratory symptoms and disorders, and genitourinary symptoms and disorders. In addition, the multi-disciplinary nature of palliative care is emphasized throughout the textbook, covering areas from ethical and communication issues, the treatment of symptoms, and the management of pain. The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine is a truly comprehensive text. No hospital, hospice, palliative care service, or medical library should be without this essential source of information. This sixth edition of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine is dedicated to the memory of Professor Kenneth Fearon husband of Professor Marie Fallon and a surgeon who became a world leader in the research and management of anorexia and cachexia. He modeled a work-life balance that is so critical in our field, with devotion to both his patients and his family.

This is the most authoritative and comprehensive resource in palliative nursing. It has been fully updated in its third edition. More international in scope, this edition continues to define the field, with contributions by all of the major names in nursing and palliative medicine. Joining Oxford Medicine Online this resource offers the best quality content in an easy-to-access format. Online only benefits include downloading images and figures to PowerPoint and downloading chapters to PDF.

"It is so important to advocate for things that may not always seem possible. Getting to work with patients/families at the end of their life is the ultimate honor." - Lauren G Markham, MSW, LCSW, APHSW-C "In this work, one witnesses both depths of human suffering and heights of human transcendence that can inspire both awe and fear. At those times, I have found that surrendering my need to be "an expert" and instead, allow myself to simply be a "human" is the wisest action." - Kerry Irish, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW"--

The importance of palliative care for children facing life threatening illness and their families is now widely acknowledged as an essential part of care, which should be available to all children and families, throughout the child's illness and at the end of life. The new edition of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Care for Children brings together the most up to date information, current knowledge, evidence, and developments of clinical practice in the field. The book is structured into four sections. 'Foundations of Care' describes core issues, the foundations on which paediatric palliative care is based. 'Child and Family Care' looks at different aspects of psychological, social, and cultural care for the sick child or young person, and their family. These chapters cover the time course of the illness, around the time of death and support for the bereaved family. 'Symptom Care' focuses on the uses of medication, specific symptoms, and their management. Finally, 'Delivery of Care' examines practical approaches to care in different environments and the needs of clinicians. Two new editors join the team from Canada and South Africa, reflecting our aims to contribute towards the development of care for children across the world, and to be a resource for both experienced clinicians and those new to the field. Comprehensive in scope, exhaustive in detail, and definitive in authority, this third edition has been thoroughly updated to cover new practices, current epidemiological data, and the evolving models that support the delivery of palliative medicine to children. This includes two new chapters, looking in detail at 'Decision Making' and 'Perinatal Care', and a new section highlighting the emerging importance of 'Palliative Care for Children in Humanitarian Crises'. This book is an essential resource for anyone who works with children worldwide.

The ageing of society is becoming a major public health issue, posing challenges to social and health care structures in many countries. This book demonstrates the added value of palliative care which, although traditionally focused on cancer and the very end of life, can play a role in strengthening and complementing the care of older people. The book outlines the current state of worldwide policy work, research, and innovations in the field of public health and palliative care for older people and concludes with recommendations for policy and decision makers, at international and national level.

Textbook of Palliative Care is a comprehensive, clinically relevant and state-of-the art book, aimed at advancing palliative care as a science, a clinical practice and as an art. Palliative care has been part of healthcare for over fifty years but we still find ourselves having to explain its nature and practice to colleagues and to the public in general. Healthcare education and training has been slow to recognize the vital importance of ensuring that all practitioners have a good understanding of what is involved in the care of people with serious or advanced illnesses and their families. However, the science of palliative care is advancing and our understanding concerning many aspects of palliative care is developing rapidly. The book is divided into separate sections for ease of use. Over 100 chapters written by experts in their given fields provide up-to-date information on a wide range of topics of relevance to those providing care towards the end of life no matter what the disease may be. We present a global perspective on contemporary and classic issues in palliative care with authors from a wide range of disciplines involved in this essential aspect of care. The Textbook includes sections addressing aspects such as symptom management and care provision, organization of care in different settings, care in specific disease groups, palliative care emergencies, ethics, public health approaches and research in palliative care. This Textbook will be of value to practitioners in all disciplines and professions where the care of people approaching death is important, specialists as well as non-specialists, in any setting where people with serious advanced illnesses are residing. It is also an important resource for researchers, policy-and decision-makers at national or regional levels. Neither the science nor the art of palliative care will stand still so we aim to keep this Textbook updated as the authors find new evidence and approaches to care.

Public health approaches to palliative care have been growing in policy importance and practice acceptance. This innovative volume explores the major concepts, practice examples, and practice guidelines for this new approach. The goal of ‘comprehensive care’ – seamless support for patients as they transition between home based care and inpatient services – relies on the principles of health promotion and community development both to ensure services are available and importantly appropriate for patients’ needs. In developing contexts, where hospitals and hospices may be inaccessible, a public health approach provides not only continuity of care but greater access to good end of life care. This book provides both a historical and conceptual overview whilst offering practical case examples from affluent and developing contexts, in a range of clinical settings. Finally, it draws together research-based guidelines for future practice. Essential reading for public health researchers and practitioners with an interest in end of life care and global health as well as those involved in developing palliative care provision, International Perspectives on Public Health and Palliative Care is the first volume to present an overview of theory and practice in this emerging field.