Support for the family is a key component of palliative care practice and philosophy, with both patient and family construed as the 'unit of care'. However, there is not always formal acknowledgement of the importance of the family carer role, or that of friends, neighbours and other
non-professional, informal carers. Consequently, health and social care professionals find carer support work particularly challenging. Symptom management, personal care, and administering of medications are just some of the tasks taken on by this group of non-professionals, and the impact of this
role can have negative emotional, physical, financial and social implications on the care-giver. Furthermore, family carers consistently report unmet needs, and there has been a lack of intervention studies aimed at improving carer support.
This book therefore provides an evidence-based,
practical guide to enable health and social care professionals to assess and respond to family carer needs. It also explores the wider sociological, policy, and research issues related to family carers and palliative care.
1. Barbara Monroe and David Oliviere: Communicating with famly carers
2. Allan Kellehear: Understanding the social and cultural dimensions of family caregiving
3. Rosalie Hudson: Responding to family carers' spiritual needs
4. Hilary Arksey and Anne Corden: Policy initiatives for
family carers
5. Jennifer Hunt: Family carers in resource poor countries
6. Michael Ashby and Danuta Mendelson: Family carers: ethical and legal issues
7. Kevin Brazil: Assessing family carer satisfaction with health care delivery
8. Betty Ferrell, Tami Borneman and Chan Thai: Family
caregiving in hospitals and pallative care units
9. Kelli Stajduhar and Robin Cohen: Family caregiving in the home
10. Mike Nolan and Rosalie Hudson: Family and palliative care in care homes for older people life-threatening illness
11. Sharon De Graves and Jenny Hynson: Family carers of
children confronting life-threatening illness
12. Donna Milne and Karen Quinn: Family carers of people with advanced cancer
13. Janice Brown and Julia Addington-Hall: Family carers of people with advanced organ failure and neurodegenerative disorders
14. Sheila Payne and Liz Rolls:
Support for bereaved family carers
15. Peter Hudson and Sheila Payne: The future of family caregiving: Research, social policy and clinical pratice
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Peter Hudson is associate professor and the Director of the Centre for Palliative Care Education and Research, an academic unit located within St Vincent's Hospital, affiliated with The University of Melbourne (Victoria, Australia). Peter is a member of the Department of Human Services
Palliative Care Implementation Advisory Committee (Victoria), Board member of the International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care and co-founder of the International Palliative Care Family Caregiver Research Collaboration. Peter has a significant background in palliative care education
and research, and has extensive experience as a palliative care nurse. He leads several competitively funded multi site research studies and has published widely in international journals.
Professor Sheila Payne is an applied social scientist with a background in nursing. Over the last twenty
years she has been involved in leading and contributing to research and teaching about research methods in palliative care. She has a special interest in end-of-life care for older people, family caregivers and bereavement support. She holds the Help the Hospices Chair in Hospice Studies based at
the International Observatory on End of Life Care at Lancaster University, UK. She also co-directs a large five year programme of collaborative research and development called the Cancer Experiences Collaborative. She has published widely in academic and professional journals, and is also
Co-director of the Cancer Experiences Collaborative, and Vice President European Association of Palliative Care.
