Pathways through Care at the End of Life: A Guide to Person-Centred Care

As someone approaches the end of their life, it is vitally important that they receive quality care and support, that their wishes are met, and that they are treated with dignity and respect. Pathways through Care at the End of Life is a comprehensive guide to providing excellent, person-centred end of life care. Following a pathway from initial conversations about end of life to care in the last days of life and after death, it covers assessing need and planning care, co-ordinating care between different agencies, and ensuring quality in different settings, such as at home, in a hospice, or in hospital. Good practice guidance on communication, ensuring the person's needs are met, support for their family and how to facilitate a good death is given. Case studies illustrate real life practice, and questions throughout each chapter encourage reflective practice. This book will be essential reading for all those working with people at the end of life, such as nurses, social workers, GPs and home carers, as well as students in these fields.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements. 1. The Context and Philosophy of End of Life Care. 2. Discussions as the End of Life Approaches 3. Assessing Need and Planning Care. 4. Co-ordination of Care. 5. Delivery of High Quality Care in Different Settings. 6. Care in the Last Days of Life. 7. Care after Death. 8. Quality End of Life Care for All. References. Index.

About the Author :
The authors worked together on the National End of Life Care Programme (NEoLCP) team, the NHS programme set up to implement the UK Department of Health's End of Life Care Strategy, which ran between 2008 and 2013. Anita Hayes was Deputy Director, Claire Henry, Director, Margaret Holloway and Tes Smith were Social Care Leads and Katie Lindsay and Eleanor Sherwen worked as Project Managers. Margaret Holloway is also Professor of Social Work at the University of Hull, UK.

Review :
This book draws on the rich experience and combined expertise of the authors to offer a resource for all those supporting people on their end of life pathway…[G]lobally we find a remarkable consistency across cultures of what people want when they are dying. They want care which manages distressing symptoms in the most effective way; they want to be treated with compassion, dignity and respect; they want to have the opportunity to set their affairs in order and to be surrounded by those people who are important to them. The implication of meeting those needs, as the core message of this book proclaims, is that end of life care is everybody's business. This clearly written and comprehensive book will be a valuable source of information and resource for any professional or student interested in improving the practical delivery of end of life care. It describes the methodologies, development and successes of the ground breaking national strategy for End of Life Care launched in England in 2008. The material is brought to life with case studies and best practice examples and reflection is encouraged through the use of 'stop and think' questions. This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date, research-based account of multi-professional practice in end-of-life care from different professional perspectives. Its authoritative knowledge base relies on the work of the National End of Life Care Programme in England's Department of Health over several years. Its strong focus on flexible, holistic quality of care will make it valuable for specialist and general practitioners in hospital and community health and social care services. This book elegantly captures how the relatively new focus on 'end of life care' provides a conceptual framework with which to think in a different way about meeting these new needs and has led to change on a wide front…Readers can find interesting synopses of interdisciplinary perspectives on death, dying and epidemiological transition, together with up to date advice about best practice in care planning, communication and coordination of services; all set out in a highly accessible manner. In their discussions, the authors do not shy away from delineating new challenges ahead that will require all of us to work together to continue to transform end of life care so that it better meets the needs of all those facing death, whatever their age or diagnosis, and wherever they are cared for.