2013; Volume 14, No 1, January
IAHPC book reviews
by Dr. Roger Woodruff
Palliative Care Book of the Month
SPIRITUAL CARE AT THE END OF LIFE
The Chaplain as a ‘Hopeful Presence’
Steve Nolan
Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2012
160 pp
ISBN 978-1-84905-199-6
RRP £17.99 $US29.95
Review copy supplied by Footprint Books.
This book is written by someone who knows very well what ‘being there’ with the dying means. He dubs his role as a ‘presence’, but a very observant and sensitive presence it is. Observant of the patient’s situation, very sensitive to any feedback, it is a presence that helps foster hope, appropriate hope, that changes as the disease progresses. I enjoyed Nolan’s descriptions of his professional relationships as well as his insightful assessment of what was going on. Seems there’s no rules about right and wrong, but some good generalisations about how we might explore a situation and respond.
Other Reviews
PAIN 2012. IASP REFRESHER COURSE
Irene Tracey (Ed)
International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), 2012
471 pp
ISBN 978-0-931092-93-0
RRP $US40.00
This impressive volume is the text of the Refresher Course from the IASP 14th World Congress on Pain, held in Milan. Topics covered include pain genes, physiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and clinical care. Each section is written by experts, but tailored so that it is understandable to a novice in the field. Each chapter starts with educational goals and finishes with a summary; they seem well referenced. If pain is amongst your specialties, or you are responsible for teaching about pain, you should already have this book.
PALLIATIVE AND END OF LIFE CARE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Home, Hospice and Hospital
Anne Grinyer
Wiley-Blackwell, 2012
184 pp
ISBN 978-0-470-65614-3
RRP $US44.99 £28.99
This book is about what’s wrong or inadequate about palliative and end of life care for children, adolescents and young adults. It’s not about symptom control; it’s about age, developmental stage, family dynamics and social interactions. It is the synthesis of an 11-year research project, illuminated by innumerable quotations from patients, parents and professionals. There are separate chapters on home- and hospice- and hospital-based palliative and end of life care, followed by a chapter on the preparation for the end of life, bereavement and emotional support. If your work involves caring for younger people at the end of life, you will recognise the hurdles and the problems, and reading this book will encourage you to think about how we can make these services better and more appropriate.
COMPACT CLINICAL GUIDE TO ACUTE PAIN MANAGEMENT
Yvonne D’Arcy
Springer Publishing Company, 2011
334 pp
ISBN 978-082610549-3
RRP $US45.00 £32.95
COMPACT CLINICAL GUIDE TO CHRONIC PAIN MANAGEMENT
Yvonne D’Arcy
Springer Publishing Company, 2011
358 pp
ISBN 978-082610540-0
RRP $US45.00 £34.95
COMPACT CLINICAL GUIDE TO GERIATRIC PAIN MANAGEMENT
Ann Quinlan-Colwell
Springer Publishing Company, 2011
444 pp
ISBN 978-0-8261-0730-5
RRP $US45.00 £31.50
COMPACT CLINICAL GUIDE TO CANCER PAIN MANAGEMENT
Pamela Stitzlein Davies and Yvonne D’Arcy
Springer Publishing Company, 2013
382 pp
ISBN 978-0-8261-0973-6
RRP $US45.00 £32.95
This new series from Springer Publishing Company, edited by Yvonne D’Arcy, is described as an evidence-based approach for nurses. I enjoyed browsing them and found them both informative and readable. The frequent use of lists and tables ensures adequate information is provided, but the real value of these books is that they provide a sound perspective for the assessment and management of various forms of pain. There are also lots of clinical vignettes and clinical pearls.
Acute Pain Management reviews the published standards and guidelines for acute pain. It covers the assessment and management of acute pain and includes chapters on complementary therapies and the treatment of patients with substance abuse.
Chronic Pain Management describes the problem and nature of chronic pain and the pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment options. There are chapters on a number of chronic pain and neuropathic pain syndromes.
Geriatric Pain Management details the physiological and psychological differences that are important in the assessment and management of pain in the older adult and includes chapters on a number of common pain syndromes in the elderly as well as pain control for end of life care.
Cancer Pain Management provides a good overview of the causes, assessment and management of cancer-related pain, and I thought was the best of the four. There is a section on interventional options and chapters about common syndromes. The last three chapters are about palliative care, hospice and end-of-life care.
As one would expect, there is some overlap between these volumes. If they are of interest to you, you can check out the tables of contents that are available on Amazon or at Springer.
Roger Woodruff, MD (Australia)
December 2012
Dr. Woodruff is a Lifetime Member of the IAHPC Board and Past Chair. His bio may be found here.
Note for authors and publishers: If you wish to have your book reviewed, please send to:
Dr Roger Woodruff
IAHPC Bookshop Editor
210 Burgundy St, Suite 9
Heidelberg, Victoria 3084
AUSTRALIA
Note: Review copies become property of IAHPC and are not returned to the author. Only palliative care related books which are previously approved will be reviewed. Due to the large number of requests, we can't provide exact dates of when books will be reviewed.
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