Product Description

Palliative care is a rapidly growing area within health care and one in which there are many ethical dilemmas. Chronically and terminally ill patients increasingly wish to take control of their own lives and deaths, resources are scarce and technology has created controversial life-prolonging treatment. This book has been written by a clinician and a teacher and writer of health care ethics to provide all those who care for the terminally ill - doctors, nurses, social workers, physiotherapists, clergy and other carers - with the concepts and principles to assist them in difficult decisions. A central theme, that technical expertise must be controlled by humane, non-technical judgements, runs through the challenging and thoughtful text. Palliative Care Ethics, in this second edition, is now more user- friendly and includes genuine case histories to illustrate ethical issues in the real world. The authors have expanded the section on rationing in respnse to the changing health care environment and confront the issues of patient rights to a far greater extent..There is also a new chapter covering terminally ill children. As the philosophy of palliation is increasingly recognised to be important from diagnosis, the coverage of more general cancer care ethics has been much increased. 'An excellent book' Palliative Medicine 'A thorough reference for practitioners of palliative care' Toronto Medical Journal 'The authors tackle many delicate concerns with professional and human integrity' Journal of Medical Ethic

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #629885 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Customer Reviews

An excellent guide to ethical dilemmas in palliative care.
Fiona Randall and Robin Downie combine the skills of a practicing palliative care physician (Randall) and a university professor of philosophy (Downie). The result is a concise, readable and most useful textbook. I warmly recommend this book to all, professionals and non-professionals, who deal with the many difficult issues and choices arising from end-of-life situations. The book's authors are British; the book's relevance is international.