Hospice Palliative Care Book Reviews &
The Palliative Care Book of the Month
Dr. Woodruff, MD
(Australia)
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Book of the Month
RESEARCH METHODS IN PALLIATIVE CARE
Julia Addington-Hall, Eduardo Burera, Irene Higginson and Sheila Payne (Eds)
Oxford University Press, 2007
315 pp
ISBN 978-0-19-853025-1
RRP £29.95 $US57.50
Find out more! Purchase this book
Here is the A-Z and ‘how to’ book on palliative care research brought to you by the First Team – a click on PubMed shows they have over 850 citations between them.
The first section of the book concerns clinical trails and includes a discussion of ethical and practical issues in designing and conducting clinical trials in palliative care. The second section concerns survey research and all the pitfalls to
avoid. Section three is about epidemiological research methods and the chapter on systematic reviews is excellent. The fourth section is on qualitative research methods. The last section consists of five chapters titled ‘How to…’ that includes everything from developing
a research question to publication.
The book is well set out, with a useful system of headings that allows you to scan the material in a chapter. There is an enormous amount of information and detail, although it is presented in a manner that could be easily understood by somebody not familiar with the research process.
As such, I think this book will be a useful reference for those experienced in research and an invaluable guide for those embarking upon it for the first time.
Roger Woodruff
Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia
June 2007
Book Reviews
CANCER PAIN. Pharmacological, Interventional and Palliative Care Approaches.
Oscar A. de Leon-Casasola (Ed)
Saunders, Elsevier, 2006
591 pp
ISBN 978-0-7216-0261-5
RRP $US72.00, £41.00.
Find out more! Purchase this book
This impressive book sets out to provide a comprehensive discussion of the basic science, pharmacology, and clinical management of cancer pain.
The book is divided into eight sections: General considerations; Pain caused by Cancer; Pain resulting from therapy; Multidisciplinary approach to the patient with cancer pain; Pharmacological management; Non-pharmacological management; Interventional techniques, and Palliative Care.
The book is well set out with a liberal use of tables, diagrams, algorithms and other illustrations; the reproduction of x-rays and scans is of good quality. The use of shading for alternate lines in tables is very helpful. The book contains an absolute wealth of information and is
well referenced.
There were a few omissions. For example, osteonecrosis of the jaw was not mentioned in the chapter on bisphosphonates. The chapter on antidepressants discusses only tricyclic drugs; my understanding is that the newer antidepressants may not be much better at relieving neuropathic
pain but they have a better adverse effect profile. I was a little surprised to find a chapter on hypophysectomy; I would have thought the type of pain described would have been suitably managed by intraventricular opioids.
My quibbles aside, this is an encyclopaedic reference on cancer pain. It is very reasonably priced and would be a very worthwhile addition to the library shelf of any oncology or palliative care unit.
THE FUTURE OF ASSISTED SUICIDE AND EUTHANASIA
Neil M Gorsuch
Princeton University Press, 2006
311pp
ISBN: 978-0-691-12458-2
RRP $US29.95 £18.95
Find out more! Purchase this book
A Harvard law graduate with a doctorate in legal philosophy from Oxford University, Gorsuch examines in detail all the political, legal and philosophical goings-on surrounding the debate about legalizing physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia
in the United States. It is very well researched and clearly written. His arguments are clear and substantiated. His description of practices in The Netherlands is unforgiving, which is exactly how this reviewer thinks it should be. The last part of the book deals with Gorsuch’s moral and legal argument against legalization
based on the idea that human life is intrinsically valuable and that intentional killing is always wrong, whilst leaving latitude for patient autonomy. While Gorsuch’s views are clear, his dissections are balanced, and this book should be read by supporters, opponents and the
undecided.
MEDICAL CARE AT THE END OF LIFE
A Catholic Perspective
David F. Kelly
Georgetown University Press 2006
180 pp
ISBN 978-1-58901-112-0
RRP $US16.95 £8.50
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David Kelly is professor emeritus of Theology and Health Care at Duquesne University in Pennsylvania. He brings a rich experience to this discussion of ethics in end-of-life care. I was particularly interested in the historical perspective – one
is always a little surprised to be reminded how much things have changed during one’s own professional lifetime. The case of Theresa Shiavo and the Papal allocution of 2004 feature prominently. However, Kelly does not dodge any hurdles and argues cogently for what he believes
is ethically correct. He believes strongly that some life-sustaining treatment is ethically optional and may be withheld, and that there is a clear difference between actively killing dying people and allowing them to die. Who should make the decisions, and how they should be made,
are discussed at length. This is an excellent guidebook for anyone interested in ethical decision-making in end-of-life care.
COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
Ethics, the Patient, and the Physician
Lois Snyder (Ed)
Humana Press, 2007
241 pp
ISBN 978-1-58829-584-2
RRP $US89.50, £45.70.
Find out more! Purchase this book
Did you know that 42% of Americans spent $27 billion on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies in 1997? And that the number of visits to CAM practitioners (629 million) was considerably greater than the number of visits to primary
care physicians (386 million)? So
CAM is here, it’s popular, and represents big bucks.
This book sets out to review the CAM scene and what it means for policymakers, physicians and for patients. It is about the clinical ethics surrounding the use of CAM, rather than a description of the therapies themselves; there is, however, a very useful listing of CAM information
resources for patients and health care professionals.
The contributors are a mix of doctors and lawyers. The editor, Lois Snyder, is Director of the Center for Ethics and Professionalism at the American College of Physicians. The book is on the expensive side but provides a very good overview of CAM
and offers a lot of sound advice about overcoming the traditional hiatus between ‘orthodox’ and ‘non-orthodox’ medicine.
Roger Woodruff
Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia
June 2007
Procedure to submit a book for review:
If you would like to have a book reviewed and included in the IAHPC bookshop, please send a copy to the IAHPC Bookshop Editor:
Dr. Roger Woodruff
IAHPC Bookshop Editor
210 Burgundy Street Suite 9
Heildberg, Victoria 3084
AUSTRALIA
Note: Books sent to our bookshop editor become property of IAHPC and the review may take some time to appear in the Newsletter. Only books related to palliative care and with an ISBN number will be reviewed. Others will be discarded. Thank You!
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