ABSTRACT

Living with Uncertainty gives a broad perspective on the complexities and challenges of the practice of end-of-life care, as well as the perceived benefits and limitations of medical intervention.

Drawn from research and clinical and pastoral experience, the book examines the feelings associated with the end of life, highlighting the demands that people are faced with and their consequences. It moves into the difficult area of people who feel defeated by their illness and can or want to live no longer, as well as the family, caregivers and professionals who surround them. These perspectives have been built upon around a hundred narratives of lived experience, combined with the wider clinical and practical range of voices. A topical post-script Lessons from Covid-19 captures the choices and challenges on a personal, professional and systemic level which the pandemic acutely revealed with a multiplicity of examples.

This will be essential reading for students and professionals in palliative and end-of-life care. Families and friends will also benefit from this book as they try to come to terms with the delicate but universal issues of death and dying.

chapter |4 pages

Introduction

part I|58 pages

The dying person and their loved ones

chapter Chapter 1|31 pages

Attitudes to death and dying

chapter Chapter 2|25 pages

The end of life – people's experiences

part II|104 pages

Medicine and care at the end of life

chapter Chapter 3|24 pages

Medical intervention, a life saver or a life changer?

chapter Chapter 4|27 pages

Euthanasia and assisted dying

chapter Chapter 5|32 pages

Person-centred care

chapter |5 pages

Conclusion

chapter |14 pages

Post-script

Lessons from Covid-19