Caregiving: Hospice-Proven Techniques for Healing Body and Soul

One of America's leading hospice experts offers practical, easy-to-follow advice for caregivers and a holistic approach to treating the infirm or the terminally ill. Author Douglas C. Smith organizes his material around "A Bill of Patient's Rights," a unique system he has taught to thousands throughout the country. He explains that the caregiver should enable patients to retain these rights: to be in control • to have a sense of purpose • to know the truth to be comfortable • to touch and be touched • to laugh to cry and express anger • to explore the spiritual to have a sense of family Included are easy-to-follow techniques and practical tools for improving care: assessment techniques ■ dialogues ■ meditations ■ life reviews ■ breathing exercises ■ body revitalization methods ■ ways that patients can evaluate and improve their own care ■ and many others. Filled with inspirational stories and effective guidance, Caregiving also addresses how to communicate with difficult patients and those in denial, how to facilitate non-stressful family interaction, and other important topics. It will be invaluable to parents and children caring for their elders; physicians and nurses; social workers and home health aides; members of the clergy; and all facing the challenge of enriching patients' lives and spirits. Visit us online at http://www.mcp.com/mgr/macmillan

Includes bibliographical references (p. [215]-220) and index.

Douglas C. Smith is the director of Kanawha Hospice in Charleston, West Virginia. He has been responsible for the care of thousands over the last ten years and taught his hospice-proven techniques throughout America. He has written this book at the request of many who have found his teaching invaluable. Smith has written for The America Journal of Hospice Care, Caring Magazine, and other publications and is the author of The Tao of Dying.

Introduction: A Bill of Patient&s Rights.

Chapter One: The Right to Be in Control.

Chapter Two: The Right to Have a Sense of Purpose.

Chapter Three: The Right to Know the Truth.

Chapter Four: The Right to Be Comfortable.

Chapter Five: The Right to Touch and Be Touched.

Chapter Six: The Right to Laughter.

Chapter Seven: The Right to Cry and Express Anger.

Chapter Eight: The Right to Explore the Spiritual.

Chapter Nine: The Right to Have a Sense of Family.

Chapter Ten: Conclusion.

Notes.

Resources.

Index.