The Hospice Revolution: Viva Editions Authors Featured as Experts on Hospice and the Changing Healthcare Environment
(PRWEB) April 11, 2014 -- Fran Smith and Sheila Himmel, journalists who examined what hospice care really means, and how little people actually know about it in Changing the Way We Die: Compassionate End-of-Life Care and the Hospice Movement, share the experiences of people who have gone through it, alongside the history of the movement, and how it is changing currently. In the Utne Reader article, "The Heart in Hospice Care and Palliative Medicine," they tell the story of Rusty Hammer and his journey from traditional medicine to hospice at the end of his life.
In the article, Smith and Himmel write, "Physician attitudes have changed since the early days, but not enough. It is the unusual oncologist or heart specialist who presents hospice as the next step along the continuum of expert care, a program like any other in medicine, staffed by people highly trained to meet the particular, complex needs of patients at this phase of their lives. More commonly, hospice is offered up as the sad last resort, after doctors have tried everything and the patient has “failed” to respond. Sometimes hospice is not offered up at all."
Listen to Fran Smith and Sheila Himmel discuss Changing the Way We Die on KQED Forum with Dave Iverson today.
Join them at the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on April 17th at 12pm.
What people are saying about Changing the Way We Die:
"Changing the Way We Die offers a bracing introduction to hospice at a time when an aging nation needs to consider alternatives to expensive and often inhumane traditional medical practices."
—Bloomberg Businessweek
"Changing the Way We Die is a vital resource for anyone who wants to be prepared to face life’s most challenging and universal event."
—New Consciousness Review
"Changing the Way We Die: Compassionate End-of-Life Care and the Hospice Movement should be required reading for physicians, nurses, and anyone else—professional or volunteer—who provides care to those who are dying."
—ForeWord Reviews
Brenda Knight, Cleis Press, INC, http://www.vivaeditions.com, +1 510-845-8000, [email protected]
Share this article