The conversation : a revolutionary plan for end-of-life care / Angelo Volandes.
2015
R726.8 .V648 2015eb
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Details
Title
The conversation : a revolutionary plan for end-of-life care / Angelo Volandes.
Edition
First U.S. edition.
ISBN
9781620408568 (electronic book)
1620408562 (electronic book)
9781620408544
1620408546
1620408562 (electronic book)
9781620408544
1620408546
Published
New York : Bloomsbury, 2015.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (220 pages)
Call Number
R726.8 .V648 2015eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
616.02/9
Summary
"There is an unspoken dark side of American medicine--keeping patients alive at all costs. Two thirds of Americans die in healthcare institutions tethered to machines and tubes, even though research indicates that most prefer to die at home in comfort, surrounded by loved ones. The question How do you want to live? must be posed to the seriously ill because they deserve to choose. If doctors explain options--including the choice to forego countless medical interventions that are often of little benefit--then patients can tell doctors how they wish to spend the remainder of their lives. A doctor's heroic efforts to prolong a life can instead prolong that patient's death, and these traumatic measures also bankrupt the healthcare system. One third of the Medicare budget is spent on the last six months of life, often on technological interventions that are not helpful and inflict more suffering. Through the stories of six patients and six very different end-of-life experiences, Volandes explores the trajectory of events and treatments that occur with and without this essential conversation. He argues for a radical re-envisioning of the patient-doctor relationship--including videos to spark discussions--and offers ways for patients and their families to talk about this difficult issue to ensure that patients will be at the center and in charge of their medical care"--Provided by publisher.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
Available in Other Form
Conversation.
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Table of Contents
Death in America
My medical odyssey
"Do everything"
"We never kept secrets from each other"
"Where do we go from here?"
"If a picture is worth a thousand words ..."
Coming home
"No one ever asked me what I wanted"
Appendices. I, Starting the conversation (for patients) ; II, Taking control and completing your advance directives ; III, Starting the conversation (for families).
My medical odyssey
"Do everything"
"We never kept secrets from each other"
"Where do we go from here?"
"If a picture is worth a thousand words ..."
Coming home
"No one ever asked me what I wanted"
Appendices. I, Starting the conversation (for patients) ; II, Taking control and completing your advance directives ; III, Starting the conversation (for families).