Ragan / Wittenberg-Lyles / Goldsmith Communication as Comfort

Multiple Voices in Palliative Care
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-1-135-59753-5
Verlag: CRC Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 184 Seiten

Reihe: Routledge Communication Series

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ragan, Sandra L.

Wittenberg-Lyles, Elaine M.

Goldsmith, Joy

Sanchez Reilly, Sandra

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Kommunikationswissenschaften
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Sozialpsychologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter One

The American Way of Death: Dying in Silence

Western Medicine and the Ignoring of Human Suffering

Theoretical Approaches to Palliative Care Communication

Social construction of health and illness

Dialectical theory

Uncertainty management theory

Problematic integration theory

Performance and dramaturgical theories

Narrative theory

Chapter Two

A brief history of Hospice and Palliative Medicine

What is Palliative Care?

Specific features of palliative care

A rationale for palliative care

The vital role of communication in palliative care

Chapter Three – The Patient’s Perspective

Re/Considering Illness Narrative(s)

Diagnosis, Recurrence, Prognosis

Wresting Physician Communication

Decision-making and Quality of Life

To Pursue Curative or Palliative Treatments

Online support groups

Dealing with Doctors: A Lack of Control

Patient’s Body and Its Interpreter

Patient Communication in the SPIKES Strategy

Pain

Reciprocal Suffering: Anxiety over Family Burden

Conclusion

Chapter Four - The Medical Perspective

Overview – the Medical Backdrop

Medical disclosure, decision-making, and information exchange between doctors and patients

Medical Prognosis

Research findings on "breaking bad news"

Challenges to the practice of palliative care: medical socialization, emotional, turmoil, stress and burnout

How one physician practices palliative care communication: Analysis of case studies

Chapter Five - The Family/Caregiver Perspective

Reception of a Diagnosis/Prognosis

Sharing decisions and collaborating about treatment

Communication with Physician

Locating or reframing hope

Reciprocal suffering: Caregiver burden and anxiety

Quality of life

Stressors of caregiving

Pain management

Mental and physical labor

Financial concerns/burdens

Family conflict and palliative care

Family communication/meetings

The death event

Satisfaction with care and communication with staff at death

Bereavement and displacement

Chapter Six – The Health Care Team’s Perspective

Chaplaincy

Psychology

Social Work

Nurse

Communication Challenges

Chapter Seven – The Authors’ Voices

Über Autor(innen)

Sandra Ragan (Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin) is Professor Emerita of communication at the University of Oklahoma. She has been studying communication and palliative care/end-of-life issues for many years, and has contributed to numerous volumes on the topic, including several in the LEA list. Elaine Wittenberg-Lyles (Ph.D. University of Oklahoma) is an assistant professor at the University of North Texas, and Joy Goldsmith (Ph.D. University of Oklahoma) is an assistant professor at Young Harris College in Georgia. Sandra Sanchez-Reilly (M.D., Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Colombia) is an assistant professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Care and the director of the Palliative Care program at the University of Texas Health Science Center and the South Texas Veterans Health Care System in San Antonio, Texas.