A Good Death

A Good Death PDF Author: FNP (BC) C. Susan Cass RN
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781504330503
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Americans are enjoying the longest life expectancy in United States history, but what does this mean for the over seventy million aging baby boomers? It is expected the majority of the aging population will have two or more chronic health illnesses that will require frequent interactions with the healthcare system and will ultimately contribute to the decline in health realized over the years of one's life. How do we prepare for when the natural aging process, coupled with the effects of multiple chronic health illnesses, takes its final toll and we are faced with our own mortality? How do we begin to make end-of-life decisions either for ourselves or for someone we love? In today's complex healthcare environment with advanced technology and treatment options, A Good Death: A Practical Guide to Maintaining Control of your End-of-Life Journey is written to make the eventuality of death and dying a topic of family conversation. It is written to help the reader consider what type of care he or she would want at the end-of-life as well as encourage the reader to take the necessary steps to ensuring he receives that care. It is an invaluable tool in breaking the barrier of silence that surrounds death and dying.

A Good Death

A Good Death PDF Author: FNP (BC) C. Susan Cass RN
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781504330503
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
Americans are enjoying the longest life expectancy in United States history, but what does this mean for the over seventy million aging baby boomers? It is expected the majority of the aging population will have two or more chronic health illnesses that will require frequent interactions with the healthcare system and will ultimately contribute to the decline in health realized over the years of one's life. How do we prepare for when the natural aging process, coupled with the effects of multiple chronic health illnesses, takes its final toll and we are faced with our own mortality? How do we begin to make end-of-life decisions either for ourselves or for someone we love? In today's complex healthcare environment with advanced technology and treatment options, A Good Death: A Practical Guide to Maintaining Control of your End-of-Life Journey is written to make the eventuality of death and dying a topic of family conversation. It is written to help the reader consider what type of care he or she would want at the end-of-life as well as encourage the reader to take the necessary steps to ensuring he receives that care. It is an invaluable tool in breaking the barrier of silence that surrounds death and dying.

A Good Death: A Practical Guide to Maintaining Control of your End-of-Life Journey

A Good Death: A Practical Guide to Maintaining Control of your End-of-Life Journey PDF Author: C. Susan Cass RN, MS, FNP (BC)
Publisher: Balboa Press
ISBN: 1504330498
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 108

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Book Description
Americans are enjoying the longest life expectancy in United States history, but what does this mean for the over seventy million aging baby boomers? It is expected the majority of the aging population will have two or more chronic health illnesses that will require frequent interactions with the healthcare system and will ultimately contribute to the decline in health realized over the years of one’s life. How do we prepare for when the natural aging process, coupled with the effects of multiple chronic health illnesses, takes its final toll and we are faced with our own mortality? How do we begin to make end-of-life decisions either for ourselves or for someone we love? In today’s complex healthcare environment with advanced technology and treatment options, A Good Death: A Practical Guide to Maintaining Control of your End-of-Life Journey is written to make the eventuality of death and dying a topic of family conversation. It is written to help the reader consider what type of care he or she would want at the end-of-life as well as encourage the reader to take the necessary steps to ensuring he receives that care. It is an invaluable tool in breaking the barrier of silence that surrounds death and dying.

The Art of Dying Well

The Art of Dying Well PDF Author: Katy Butler
Publisher: Scribner
ISBN: 1501135473
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
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).

Achieving a Good Death

Achieving a Good Death PDF Author: Chris Palmer
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1475850522
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Death is inevitable, dying badly is not. A good death is achievable, and this book explains how. There is an art to dying well that can be taught and learned. While death is inevitable, dying badly is not. This practical guide to achieving a good death will reduce the fear that often cloaks discussions about death and dying and give readers the knowledge and skills to achieve a peaceful and gentle death. With the multiple options available at the end of life, people can design and direct their end-of-life journey so they have as fulfilling and meaningful life as possible right up to the end and achieve the elusive good death when the time comes. Chapters focus on essential elements of living well and preparing for a good death including: Death cleaning so we don’t burden our loved ones with a big mess Talking with loved ones and doctors about our end-of-life wishes and aspirations so they know what matters to us and how we want to be treated Writing a legacy letter (an ethical will) and a memoir to let loved ones know what is deep in our hearts. Understanding caregivers, an under-appreciated group of people, usually unpaid women, who number in the millions. The benefits of palliative care, hospice care, and end-of-life doulas and the necessary vigilance to get the most out of these essential services. End-of-life options, including medical-aid-in-dying (MAID) and voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED). What it’s like to die and how to help people as they die. Options for disposition of the body of a loved one (or your own body) after death, especially in an economically and ecologically responsible way Planning commemorations and celebrations of life. The nature of grief, including how to deal with it, and why it is often unbearably painful. This thoughtful and gentle guide, exploring one of the most difficult human topics, equips every reader with the information they need to overcome the anxiety and confusion that so often overwhelms end-of-life planning so they may intentionally plan for “a good death” that will provide comfort for all during one’s final act.

Staying in Charge

Staying in Charge PDF Author: Karen Orloff Kaplan, M.P.H., Sc.D.
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 047030801X
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
Practical, emotional, and spiritual guidance The time may come when you or a loved one has to face a life-threatening illness; when you realize that you or your loved one may be dying. It's never easy to think about the last years of life, but being prepared can help you have your hopes and wishes realized. By taking the time now to plan for the future, you can maintain control of your life even at the very end. Staying in Charge is a supportive guide to opening up the lines of communication and making life more fulfilling from the first day of diagnosis of a serious illness. This reassuring handbook helps you to focus on important matters such as: * Handling a living will or a do-not-resuscitate order * Deciding upon medical power of attorney * Gathering support from friends and family * And, most significantly, learning to live in the midst of dying Based on the wisdom of many experts and caregivers in the field, Staying in Charge offers everything you need to know to make the last years of life more fruitful, less isolating, and more comfortable and peaceful-whenever and wherever the journey occurs. "Few of us think of our own death with an open heart or a clear mind. Kaplan and Lukas courageously and compassionately demystify this unknown part of life with practical and spiritual guidance. With Staying in Charge, the secret is out: You can plan for death and, in so doing, learn how to live more fully." -Beth Witrogen McLeod, author of Caregiving: The Spiritual Journey of Love, Loss, and Renewal "Staying in Charge: Practical Plans for the End of Your Life means what it says. When it comes time to manage a serious illness, we all want to be in control. There isn't a person alive who shouldn't read and absorb the counsel of this valorous-and unexpectedly cheering-work." -Stefan Kanfer, former editor, Time magazine author of Ball of Fire and A Summer World

Final Journeys

Final Journeys PDF Author: Maggie Callanan
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 055390423X
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
For more than two decades, hospice nurse Maggie Callanan has tended to the terminally ill and been a cornerstone of support for their loved ones. Now the coauthor of the classic bestseller Final Gifts passes along the lessons she has learned from the experts—her patients. Here is the guide we all need to understanding the special needs of the dying and those who care for them. In her work with thousands of families, Maggie Callanan has witnessed the tears, the love—and the confusion and conflict—this final passage can evoke. Now, with honesty, compassion, and even humor, she empowers patients and their families to write the last chapter of their lives with less fear, less pain, and more control—so that all involved can focus their energies on creating the best possible ending. From supporting a husband or wife faced with the loss of a spouse, to helping a dying mother prepare her children to carry on without her, Callanan’s poignant stories illustrate new ways to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges of this difficult and precious time. She brings welcome clarity to medical and ethical concerns, explaining what to expect at every stage. Each brief chapter also conveys a home truth about making crucial treatment decisions, supporting the patient’s dignity and individuality, and lightening the burden on caregivers. Final Journeys is designed to be your companion, resource, and advocate. From diagnosis through the final hours, it will help you keep the lines of communication open, get the help you need, and create the peaceful end we all hope for.

A Public Health Strategy for Living, Aging and Dying in Solidarity

A Public Health Strategy for Living, Aging and Dying in Solidarity PDF Author: Mary Beth Morrissey
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1315350610
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
With more people living longer lives, there is increased importance in the health care industry on improving services for the elderly. This comprehensive book gives an expert overview of the topics and challenges, along with imperative ethical and legal frameworks. The book also details existing programs and benefits in relation to a realistic portrayal of population needs. Other important issues are covered such as long-term palliative care and hospice, other vulnerable populations, elder abuse, public-private collaboration, evidence-based policy-making, and much more.

Knocking on Heaven's Door

Knocking on Heaven's Door PDF Author: Katy Butler
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451641982
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Outlines a less invasive, more humane approach to end-of-life care, sharing the stories of the author's parents and explaining the political and technological factors that are interfering with patient preferences.

A Good Death

A Good Death PDF Author: Margaret Rice
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760871222
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
The guide to facilitate much needed conversation and provide resources for grief management and palliative care. When her own mother died, Margaret Rice realised how completely unprepared she and her family had been for the experience of companioning a loved one who is dying. So she decided to go in search of the information she couldn't find when she most needed it and write the book herself - a novice's guide to death. We live in a period of intense death denial. But what if we were to smash that taboo and ask questions we want answered, like how do we know when someone is close to dying, and how do we best care for them? What actually happens to our body when we die? How do we work with medical experts? How do we deal with the non-medical issues that will come up, such as wills, finances and even social media passwords? Is morphine used to nudge death along or is this just a myth? Where do questions about euthanasia fit in with personal, lived experience? Margaret Rice lifts the lid on the taboos that surround death, sharing practical information and compassionate advice from multiple sources to break down boundaries and offer better choices of care to suit individual needs. This is a book to help the dying and their carers feel less isolated, and help us all face death better.

Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them)

Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them) PDF Author: Sallie Tisdale
Publisher: Gallery Books
ISBN: 1501182188
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CRITICS’ TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR “In its loving, fierce specificity, this book on how to die is also a blessedly saccharine-free guide for how to live” (The New York Times). Former NEA fellow and Pushcart Prize-winning writer Sallie Tisdale offers a lyrical, thought-provoking, yet practical perspective on death and dying in Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them). Informed by her many years working as a nurse, with more than a decade in palliative care, Tisdale provides a frank, direct, and compassionate meditation on the inevitable. From the sublime (the faint sound of Mozart as you take your last breath) to the ridiculous (lessons on how to close the sagging jaw of a corpse), Tisdale leads us through the peaks and troughs of death with a calm, wise, and humorous hand. Advice for Future Corpses is more than a how-to manual or a spiritual bible: it is a graceful compilation of honest and intimate anecdotes based on the deaths Tisdale has witnessed in her work and life, as well as stories from cultures, traditions, and literature around the world. Tisdale explores all the heartbreaking, beautiful, terrifying, confusing, absurd, and even joyful experiences that accompany the work of dying, including: A Good Death: What does it mean to die “a good death”? Can there be more than one kind of good death? What can I do to make my death, or the deaths of my loved ones, good? Communication: What to say and not to say, what to ask, and when, from the dying, loved ones, doctors, and more. Last Months, Weeks, Days, and Hours: What you might expect, physically and emotionally, including the limitations, freedoms, pain, and joy of this unique time. Bodies: What happens to a body after death? What options are available to me after my death, and how do I choose—and make sure my wishes are followed? Grief: “Grief is the story that must be told over and over...Grief is the breath after the last one.” Beautifully written and compulsively readable, Advice for Future Corpses offers the resources and reassurance that we all need for planning the ends of our lives, and is essential reading for future corpses everywhere. “Sallie Tisdale’s elegantly understated new book pretends to be a user’s guide when in fact it’s a profound meditation” (David Shields, bestselling author of Reality Hunger).