Communication as Comfort

This exceptional work explores the complexities of communication at one of the most critical stages of the life experience -- during advanced, serious illness and at the end of life. Challenging the predominantly biomedical model that informs much communication between seriously ill and/or dying patients and their physicians, caregivers, and families, Sandra L. Ragan, Elaine M. Wittenberg-Lyles, Joy Goldsmith, and Sandra Sanchez-Reilly pose palliative care -- medical care designed to comfort rather than to cure patients -- as an antidote to the experience of most Americans at the most vulnerable juncture of their lives. With an author team comprised of three health communication scholars and one physician certified in geriatrics and palliative medicine, this volume integrates the medical literature on palliative care with that of health communication researchers who advocate a biopsychosocial approach to health care. Applying communication theories and insights to illuminate problems and to explain their complexities, the authors advocate a patient-centered approach to care that recognizes and seeks to lessen patients' suffering and the many types of pain they may experience (physical, psychological, social, and spiritual) during life-threatening illness. Multiple voices are present here: the patient; the medical professional; the family/caregiver; and the interdisciplinary health care team. The authors supplement their observations and analyses with ethnographic data gathered from clinical consultations with patients; palliative care team meetings; and interviews with team members as well as with physician fellows in a palliative care fellowship program. As a work that highlights the role of communication in palliative care, the volume is required reading for students, educators, and researchers in health communication, communication and aging, and developmental communication. Health care professionals - physicians, nurses, and members of interdisciplinary palliative care teams (social workers, psychologists, chaplains, and others) - as well as hospice professionals and volunteers will find this book essential to their clinical practice and research. It will also be an invaluable guide to anyone facing the prospect of serious and/or terminal illness as well as to their family members and caregivers.Ragan/Goldsmith is the author of 'Communication as Comfort', published 2008 under ISBN 9780805858082 and ISBN 0805858083.