Download or read book African American Seniors Perspectives on Advance Care Planning written by Saundra Kaye Crump and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Dying in America written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-03-19 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For patients and their loved ones, no care decisions are more profound than those made near the end of life. Unfortunately, the experience of dying in the United States is often characterized by fragmented care, inadequate treatment of distressing symptoms, frequent transitions among care settings, and enormous care responsibilities for families. According to this report, the current health care system of rendering more intensive services than are necessary and desired by patients, and the lack of coordination among programs increases risks to patients and creates avoidable burdens on them and their families. Dying in America is a study of the current state of health care for persons of all ages who are nearing the end of life. Death is not a strictly medical event. Ideally, health care for those nearing the end of life harmonizes with social, psychological, and spiritual support. All people with advanced illnesses who may be approaching the end of life are entitled to access to high-quality, compassionate, evidence-based care, consistent with their wishes. Dying in America evaluates strategies to integrate care into a person- and family-centered, team-based framework, and makes recommendations to create a system that coordinates care and supports and respects the choices of patients and their families. The findings and recommendations of this report will address the needs of patients and their families and assist policy makers, clinicians and their educational and credentialing bodies, leaders of health care delivery and financing organizations, researchers, public and private funders, religious and community leaders, advocates of better care, journalists, and the public to provide the best care possible for people nearing the end of life.
Download or read book Trials Tribulations and Celebrations written by Marian Gray Secundy and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an anthology of short stories, narratives, and poems exploring aspects of the life cycle (birth, illness, aging, loss and grief) from an African-American perspective. The book is intended to give health care providers and interested others insights into the African-American experience, and to encourage readers to explore the implications of living in and providing services for a multicultural community. The book includes fictional and autobiographical literature from a number of noted U.S. writers, including Alice Walker, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, James Weldon Johnson, Sterling Brown, Toni Cade Bambara, Paule Marshall, and Maya Angelou. (DB).
Download or read book Let s Talk about Death over Dinner written by Michael Hebb and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For readers of Being Mortal and When Breath Becomes Air, the acclaimed founder of Death over Dinner offers a practical, inspiring guide to life's most difficult yet important conversation. Of the many critical conversations we will all have throughout our lifetime, few are as important as the ones discussing death—and not just the practical considerations, such as DNRs and wills, but what we fear, what we hope, and how we want to be remembered. Yet few of these conversations are actually happening. Inspired by his experience with his own father and countless stories from others who regret not having these conversations, Michael Hebb cofounded Death Over Dinner—an organization that encourages people to pull up a chair, break bread, and really talk about the one thing we all have in common. Death Over Dinner has been one of the most effective end-of-life awareness campaigns to date; in just three years, it has provided the framework and inspiration for more than a hundred thousand dinners focused on having these end-of-life conversations. As Arianna Huffington said, "We are such a fast-food culture, I love the idea of making the dinner last for hours. These are the conversations that will help us to evolve." Let's Talk About Death (over Dinner) offers keen practical advice on how to have these same conversations—not just at the dinner table, but anywhere. There's no one right way to talk about death, but Hebb shares time—and dinner—tested prompts to use as conversation starters, ranging from the spiritual to the practical, from analytical to downright funny and surprising. By transforming the most difficult conversations into an opportunity, they become celebratory and meaningful—ways that not only can change the way we die, but the way we live.
Download or read book Families Caring for an Aging America written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2016-11-08 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.
Download or read book Cancer The Enemy from Within written by Carolyn Compton and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-05-06 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive, ground-breaking title presents, in simplifying style, the driving and organizing principles of cancer, making this multidimensional, highly complex disease easily understandable for readers. Developed out of the renowned author’s many years of teaching a widely popular, several-hundred-student college course, this 12-chapter book begins with an account of the history of cancer as a medical and public health problem, as well as the major milestones and setbacks in the ongoing quest to understand the wide variety of cancers that continue to impact the world. Subsequent chapters then address pathogenesis, incidence and mortality statistics, risk factors, causal factors, screening challenges and victories, treatment strategies, and disease prevention approaches. This wealth of clinical information is further supplemented with socioeconomic discussions on the financial, social, ethical, technological, regulatory, political, and logistical challenges that limit progress in cancer research. A soon to be gold-standard text that thoroughly and expertly describes cancer as a composite, adaptive system, Cancer: The Enemy from Within equips and empowers all undergraduate students and graduate students to better understand this continually perplexing disease. Clinicians across all disciplines may also find this work of great interest.
Download or read book Handbook of Assessment in Clinical Gerontology written by Peter A. Lichtenberg and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2010-08-20 with total page 753 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New trends in mental healthcare practice and a rapid increase in the aged population are causing an explosion in the fields of clinical gerontology and geropsychology today. This comprehensive second edition handbook offers clinicians and graduate students clear guidelines and reliable tools for assessing general mental health, cognitive functioning, functional age, psychosocial health, comorbidity, behavior deficits, and more. Psychopathology, behavioral disorders, changes in cognition, and changes in everyday functioning are addressed in full, and a wide range of conditions and disorders common to this patient population are covered. Each chapter provides an empirical review of assessment instruments, assessment scales in their totality, a review of how these instruments are used with and adapted for different cultural groups, illustration of assessments through case studies, and information on how to utilize ongoing assessment in treatment and/or treatment planning. This combination of elements will make the volume the definitive assessment source for clinicians working with elderly patients. - The most comprehensive source of up-to-date data on gerontological assessment, with review articles covering: psychopathology, behavioral disorders, changes in cognition, and changes in everyday functioning - Consolidates broadly distributed literature into single source, saving researchers and clinicians time in obtaining and translating information and improving the level of further research and care they can provide - Chapters directly address the range of conditions and disorders most common for this patient population - i.e. driving ability, mental competency, sleep, nutrition, sexual functioning, demntias, elder abuse, depression, anxiety disorders, etc - Fully informs readers regarding conditions most commonly encountered in real world treatment of an elderly patient population - Each chapter cites case studies to illustrate assessment techniques - Exposes reader to real-world application of each assessment discussed
Download or read book Thinking Ahead Project written by Chao-Hui Huang and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This pilot study investigates the feasibility and provides a limited efficacy testing of an innovative intervention, the Thinking Ahead Project (TAP), designed to increase acceptability of advance care planning (ACP) among African Americans. A mixed-method randomized control trial (RCT) was conducted to examine the feasibility and efficacy of the TAP intervention. 30 African Americans aged 45 and above were recruited and randomized to either the intervention group (n=15), or the control group (n=15). Feasibility was assessed with a program satisfaction survey. ANCOVAs and/or regression analyses were conducted to assess the effect of the intervention on the primary outcomes, including acceptability, knowledge, preference, and intention to complete an advance directive (AD). Semi-structured interview data were analyzed using thematic content analysis to identify barriers to engage in ACP discussions, strategies to overcome barriers, stages of health behavior change, and experiences during the TAP intervention. Feasibility data demonstrated successful implementation and acceptability of the multi-component TAP intervention. All participants reported increased intention to complete an AD at post-intervention regardless of the group assignment. A significant increase in knowledge from baseline to post-intervention was found in the intervention group, t (14) = -3.055, p = .009, eta squared =.41. The intervention participants also reported a preference for the health literacy adapted advance directive form over the standard form, especially among those with low health literacy. "Lack of information on ACP" was identified as one of the primary barriers for individuals to engage in ACP discussions. Overall, the TAP intervention demonstrates promise as a brief intervention to increase acceptability of ACP among African Americans. Findings can be applied to develop culturally sensitive intervention programs that improve acceptability and engagement in ACP among racial/ethnic minorities.
Download or read book Macrosocial Determinants of Population Health written by Sandro Galea and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-10-24 with total page 491 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores social factors such as culture, mass media, political systems, and migration that influence public health while systematically considering how we may best study these factors and use our knowledge from this study to guide public health interventions. Throughout, contributors emphasize the potential of population strategies to influence traditional risk factors associated with health and disease. Each section ends with Galea’s integrative chapters, bringing the observations and conclusions from the chapters into clear, usable focus.
Download or read book Advance Care Planning in End of Life Care written by Keri Thomas and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ACP is an essential part of end of life care with patients improving their chances of 'a good death' by creating plans with their families and carers. This new edition gives a comprehensive overview of ACP, explores a wide range of issues and practicalities in providing end of life care, and offers a worldwide perspective.
Download or read book Communities of Care written by Mary M. Ball and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2005-10-07 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Very little is known about why and when African American elders seek formal long-term care, or about the characteristics of assisted living environments they consider most desirable. Drawing on qualitative studies conducted between 1998 and 2001, the authors of Communities of Care provide important information on historic and current trends in assisted living systems serving African Americans. Focusing on six facilities that have become models of long-term care for African Americans, the authors shed light on the daily lives of the people who live, work, and visit these "communities of care."With detailed profiles of the facilities, interviews, and case histories of care recipients, the authors explore both the institutional and personal characteristics of the facilities and the issues central to their residents. This definitive work brings to the forefront critical questions about how race, gender, and culture affect the quality of, access to, and cost of care. These questions have broad implications for the policy, administration, and operation of assisted living.
Download or read book Information Foraging Theory written by Peter Pirolli and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peter Pirolli covers information foraging theory (IFT), a theory in adaptive information interaction. IFT analyses what people do to make sense of the huge amount of information available on the Internet and how they navigate it.
Download or read book Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2004-10-16 with total page 753 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.
Download or read book The Art of Dying Well written by Katy Butler and published by Scribner. This book was released on 2020-02-11 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This “comforting…thoughtful” (The Washington Post) guide to maintaining a high quality of life—from resilient old age to the first inklings of a serious illness to the final breath—by the New York Times bestselling author of Knocking on Heaven’s Door is a “roadmap to the end that combines medical, practical, and spiritual guidance” (The Boston Globe). “A common sense path to define what a ‘good’ death looks like” (USA TODAY), The Art of Dying Well is about living as well as possible for as long as possible and adapting successfully to change. Packed with extraordinarily helpful insights and inspiring true stories, award-winning journalist Katy Butler shows how to thrive in later life (even when coping with a chronic medical condition), how to get the best from our health system, and how to make your own “good death” more likely. Butler explains how to successfully age in place, why to pick a younger doctor and how to have an honest conversation with them, when not to call 911, and how to make your death a sacred rite of passage rather than a medical event. This handbook of preparations—practical, communal, physical, and spiritual—will help you make the most of your remaining time, be it decades, years, or months. Based on Butler’s experience caring for aging parents, and hundreds of interviews with people who have successfully navigated our fragmented health system and helped their loved ones have good deaths, The Art of Dying Well also draws on the expertise of national leaders in family medicine, palliative care, geriatrics, oncology, and hospice. This “empowering guide clearly outlines the steps necessary to prepare for a beautiful death without fear” (Shelf Awareness).
Download or read book Spirituality and Meaning Making in Chronic Illness written by Kelly Arora and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. This book was released on 2020-02-21 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many spiritual caregivers, including chaplains, spiritual directors and clergy, are unaware of how they can support people with chronic health conditions. This book combines insights on chronic illness with spiritual care skills and suggestions to enhance well-being for people living with long-term illness. Using a narrative approach, the author reflects on the stories of two women - Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, who travels from Kansas (a state of health) to Oz (an illness experience), alongside the author's personal experiences of managing an incurable autoimmune disease. Chapters will include guidelines and exercises that help equip caregivers to facilitate healing with people who live with long-term health conditions.
Download or read book Dying Well written by Ira Byock and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1998-03-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Ira Byock, prominent palliative care physician and expert in end of life decisions, a lesson in Dying Well. Nobody should have to die in pain. Nobody should have to die alone. This is Ira Byock's dream, and he is dedicating his life to making it come true. Dying Well brings us to the homes and bedsides of families with whom Dr. Byock has worked, telling stories of love and reconciliation in the face of tragedy, pain, medical drama, and conflict. Through the true stories of patients, he shows us that a lot of important emotional work can be accomplished in the final months, weeks, and even days of life. It is a companion for families, showing them how to deal with doctors, how to talk to loved ones—and how to make the end of life as meaningful and enriching as the beginning. Ira Byock is also the author of The Best Care Possible: A Physician's Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life.
Download or read book An Exploratory Study of the Attitudes and Beliefs of Older African Americans Concerning End of life Planning written by Evie L. Bradley and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: This descriptive and exploratory study, guided by a developmental framework, examined how the lived experiences of older African Americans, over the life course, informed their attitudes and beliefs concerning end-of-life planning. A focus group was used to pilot the study. Tape-recorded semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with seven respondents using an open-ended questionnaire. Content analysis was accomplished utilizing grounded theory as an analytic framework. Following this analysis, six core categories emerged: (1) the experience of growing older; (2) coming to know death; (3) making sense of death and loss; (4) cognitive dissonance; (5) measured trust; and (6) race as a constant companion. The findings revealed that respondents had a positive attitude concerning the utility of advance directives, but a reluctance and ambivalence concerning executing them. Family centered decision-making and input were valued in end-of-life care and planning. These older individuals tended to look to their adult children to serve in the role of surrogate decision makers in the event of future decisional incapacity. There was a rejection of heroic medical care or technology in the face of futility. The respondents saw no nobility in pain and suffering and fervently desired effective comfort care in the event of terminal illness. Independence and productivity were most valued. Spirituality was at the core of how these older persons made meaning of death and how they found meaning and purpose in life.
