BOOK REVIEWS
Dr. Woodruff, MD
(Australia)
 Note: The Table of Contents for each book reviewed is available in the Bookshop at www.hospicecare.com/Bookstore
SUPPORTIVE CARE FOR THE UROLOGY PATIENT
Richard Normal & David Currow (eds)
Oxford University Press, 2005
476pp
ISBN 0-19-852941-4
RRP £49.95 $US89.50
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Supportive Care for the Urology Patient is one of OUP’s series on Supportive Care, which is the multidisciplinary holistic care of patients and their families from the time of diagnosis, through treatments aimed at cure or prolonging life, and into the phase currently acknowledged as palliative care.
The introductory chapters emphasize the dimensions of holistic care. These are followed by a series of chapters dealing with particular clinical problems: haematuria, urinary retention, urinary incontinence, neurological disease affecting the urinary tract, sexual dysfunction, urinary diversions, genito-urinary infections, benign and malignant genito-urinary pain, male infertility, recurring urinary calculi, ureteric obstruction, and others.
The book is comprehensive in scope and is well referenced. The material is well set out and easy to access. I would have liked to have seen more tables, including those summarizing the results of clinical trials. However, this aside, this book definitely has a place on the library shelf in both the Urology ward and the Palliative Care ward.
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MANAGEMENT OF ADVANCED DISEASE
Nigel Sykes, Polly Edmonds & John Wiles (eds)
Arnold, 2004
640pp
ISBN 0-340-76313-2
RRP: £29.99 $US49.95 $AU135
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This is the fourth edition of the landmark text first published in 1978, edited by Dame Cicely Saunders. Comparing it to the slim 250-page second edition that I purchased in 1984 is a testament to the legacy that Dame Cicely has left us.
The book opens with a brief introduction by Dame Cicely herself, followed by chapters on communication and audit. The bulk of the book is an A-Z of symptoms, followed by sections on particular clinical challenges in malignant and non-malignant disease, respectively. This classification can be a little difficult to navigate: for example, if you want to know about seizures, they are described as fits and are included in the malignant disease section. However, once you have found the topic you want, the material is well set out with generous use of bullet-point lists.
The section on psychosocial issues is particularly good and reflects the wealth of accumulated experience at St Christopher’s. The final section of the book relates to organizational issues for palliative care professionals.
This is a comprehensive book that includes a vast amount of information, including non-malignant disease as well as cancer. It deserves a place on the library shelf in any palliative care unit.
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SUPPORTIVE CARE IN RESPIRATORY DISEASE
Sam Ahmedzai & Martin Muers (eds)
Oxford University Press, 2005
540pp
ISBN 0-19-263141-1
RRP £69.95 $US135
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This book belongs to OUP’s series on Supportive Care, which is defined as the multidisciplinary holistic care of patients and their families from the time of diagnosis, through treatments aimed at cure or prolonging life, and into the phase currently acknowledged as palliative care.
The first section provides a description of supportive care, discusses respiratory anatomy and physiology, quality of life, and health economics. The second section (16 chapters) describes the mechanism and management of dyspnoea. The third section (6 chapters) is about cough and haemoptysis. The next deals with the mechanisms and management of pain associated with respiratory disease. The last section deals with the respiratory supportive care of patients in three specific diseases: cancer, HIV and pulmonary tuberculosis.
The book is well set out, with good use of tables and illustrations. It appears comprehensive in detail and is well referenced.
I certainly believe this book deserves a place on the bookshelf in both the Respiratory and the Palliative Care wards.
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DEVELOPING HOSPICE RESIDENCES
A Guide and Tool Kit
Ruven Liebhaber & Andrew Barder
Pentaview Collaboration, 2002
295pp
Price: $US 295 plus shipping
Available from www.pentaview.com
This manual is a guide to the planning and development of a hospice residence sited away from a hospital or other significant health care facility. After a brief overview of hospice care, it covers service planning and feasibility, business planning, physical design and planning, team building, delivering care, and marketing.
It is comprehensive in scope and the experience of the authors is apparent in the detail.
The small fraction of the book that deals with regulatory matters refers to the regulations in USA . However, given some minor adjustments for local culture and tradition, the rest of the material should be applicable anywhere.
The manual is not cheap, but for anybody seriously contemplating creating an Hospice Residence, it would be a small and worthwhile investment.
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HOSPICE INPATIENT UNITS IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES
A Guide and Tool Kit
Ruven Liebhaber & J Koeper
Pentaview Collaboration, 2005
349pp
Price: $US 315 plus shipping
Available form www.pentaview.com
This manual is a guide to the planning and development of an inpatient hospice unit associated with a hospital or other significant health care facility. After a brief overview of hospice care, it covers service planning and feasibility, business planning, physical design and planning, team building, delivering care, and marketing.
It is comprehensive in scope and the experience of the authors is apparent in the detail. The small fraction of the book that deals with regulatory matters refers to the regulations in USA . However, given some minor adjustments for local culture and tradition, the rest of the material should be applicable anywhere.
The manual is not cheap, but for anybody seriously contemplating creating an inpatient unit, it would be a small and worthwhile investment.
Roger Woodruff
Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health,
Melbourne, Australia
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