Dying at Home: A Family Guide for Caregiving, revised and updated

Dying at Home: A Family Guide for Caregiving, revised and updated

Johns Hopkins University Press, 2715 North Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-4363. 298p., bibliog., index. (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book). ISBN 0-8018-6202-7, 0-8018-6203-5pbk. $45.00, $16.95pbl.
Andrea Sankar. 1999.

The pain and suffering of the dying is with us at all times. Many try to look around it and let someone else deal with those who are dying, saving their energy for the grieving after the individual has died. However, more people are dying at home because managed care is forcing people out of the hospital into outpatient settings. Those families and friends that do care for the dying remain a little understood group but are considered champions. As medical advances shorten hospital stays, the site of death will more and more be the home, placing significant demands on family and other informal caregivers. This book is for those who have taken it upon themselves to care for their loved ones at home during their final days of living, which may stretch into months and even years. Fortunately there are many groups who can help and many facilities that take over when the family can no longer cope.

Much attention is given to the caregiver in this book and the hospice movement. This book will explain all of the various functions of formal support, how to gain access to the formal system, how to contact an agency, and how to find the right people. It discusses the role of the caregiver, social support, the well being of the caregiver, demystifying death, and what has to be done after death occurs. There is one section that specifically talks about caregiving and HIV. This is an excellent book for personal use and a recommended book for all public libraries.

Keywords: Terminally Ill; Home Care)
010310
BK011058

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