Physicians who care for patients with life-threatening illnesses face daunting communication challenges. Patients and family members can react to difficult news with sadness, distress, anger, or denial. This book defines the specific communication tasks involved in talking with patients with life-threatening illnesses and their families. Topics include delivering bad news, transition to palliative care, discussing goals of advance-care planning and do-not-resuscitate orders, existential and spiritual issues, family conferences, medical futility, and other conflicts at the end of life. Drs. Anthony Back, Robert Arnold, and James Tulsky bring together empirical research as well as their own experience to provide a roadmap through difficult conversations about life-threatening issues. The book offers both a theoretical framework and practical conversational tools that the practicing physician and clinician can use to improve communication skills, increase satisfaction, and protect themselves from burnout.

Physicians who care for patients with life-threatening illnesses face daunting communication challenges. Patients and family members can react to difficult news with sadness, distress, anger, or denial. This book defines the specific communication tasks involved in talking with patients with life-threatening illnesses and their families. Topics include delivering bad news, transition to palliative care, discussing goals of advance-care planning and do-not-resuscitate orders, existential and spiritual issues, family conferences, medical futility, and other conflicts at the end of life. Drs Anthony Back, Robert Arnold, and James Tulsky bring together empirical research as well as their own experience to provide a roadmap through difficult conversations about life-threatening issues. The book offers both a theoretical framework and practical conversational tools that the practising physician and clinician can use to improve communication skills, increase satisfaction, and protect themselves from burnout.

A practical guide to help clinicians communicate more effectively with seriously ill patients and their families about what matters most.

"A member of the palliative care team meets Alicia for the first time. They meet in the infusion bay, where the thin curtains offer symbolic privacy. Alicia is in her early 60s, and had gone to the doctor with a persistent cough. Subsequent tests revealed metastatic lung cancer. She has just finished her first cycle of first line chemotherapy, which she tolerated well. A quick review of her chart reveals no obvious physical symptoms such as pain or shortness of breath. Her social history is notable for the recent death of her husband. She has one adult child, who lives nearby"--

The first resource of its kind, Palliative and Serious Illness Patient Management for Physician Assistants provides a fundamental framework for physician assistants and physician associates to incorporate palliative care medicine, including end-of-life care, into their practice. The book focuses on pharmacologic and integrative medical therapeutic modalities, as well as the evaluation and treatment of special populations, which reflects the reality of a physician assistant's day-to-day job. It uses a patient-centered approach to address the comprehensive management of serious illness patients, as well as their designated families, significant others, caregivers, and health care providers. Chapters are organized into six sections that cover the essential aspects of care, symptom management, and transitioning care at the end-of-life. This book is ideal for physician assistant trainers (didactic or clinical), students, and practicing clinicians who seek to enhance their communication and medical skills in the treatment of all seriously illness patient populations in any specialty, and in the management of their symptoms at any stage of their disease or condition.

Discusses how and why organizations and special interest groups of all kinds attempt to solve the wrong problems with intricate solutions.

This volume reviews and integrates the growing body of contemporary psychological research on the links between religious faith and health outcomes. It presents up-to-date findings from empirical studies of populations ranging from healthy individuals to those with specific clinical problems, including cancer, HIV/AIDS, and psychological disorders. Drawing on multiple perspectives in psychology, the book examines such critical questions as the impact of religious practices on health behaviors and health risks; the role played by faith in adaptation to illness or disability; and possible influences on physiological functioning and mortality. Chapters reflect the close collaboration of the editors and contributing authors, who discuss commonalities and differences in their work, debate key methodological concerns, and outline a cohesive agenda for future research.