Aging, Death, and the Completion of Being

2016-11-11 Psychology

Author : David D. Van Tassel
Release : 2016-11-11
Genre : Psychology
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 342/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Aging, Death, and the Completion of Being by : David D. Van Tassel

Download or read book Aging, Death, and the Completion of Being written by David D. Van Tassel. This book was released on 2016-11-11. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the problems of aging are being studied with microscope, computer, and questionnaire as a medical, social, and economic challenge, these essays introduce the humanistic perspective. The assumption behind this work is that in history, literature, folklore, and art we have the record of centuries of human experience to enhance our present understanding of aging, old age, and death. Growing old is a process that occurs in every person every minute, every hour that passes. But if aging does not begin on the day of retirement at the age of sixty-five, what is the definition of old age? Is it chronologically; physiologically, mentally, or culturally determined? Old age may not be a phase of life as easily identified as adolescence. As our population continues to grow older we are ever more in need of greater sensitivity to the joys and tragedies of old age. In recent years, however, our view of old age has been clouded by our negative feelings about death. Old age has become inextricably associated with death. It was not always so: until a lower infant mortality rate, better nutrition, and a higher standard of living so greatly increased our chances of surviving into old age, death was recognized as a threat at every stage of life. This volume brings together twelve eminent scholars from various humanistic disciplines to trace the origins of our present attitudes and to identify the models and myths of old age in our culture. The historians in the group ask how old people were treated in past societies. Literary scholars and art critics discuss the effects of aging on the later works of authors and artists and art as a source of solace, inspiration, and revelation to the aged. A philosopher explores a theme shared by all: that the way one ages and dies is a function of the way one has lived. Contributors: John Demos, Leon Edel, Erik H. Erikson, Leslie Fiedler, Tamara K. Hareven, Robert Kastenbaum, Robert Kohn, Juanita M. Kreps, Peter Laslett, Francis V. O'Connor, Robert F. Sayre.

Approaching Death

1997-10-30 Medical

Author : Committee on Care at the End of Life
Release : 1997-10-30
Genre : Medical
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 253/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Approaching Death by : Committee on Care at the End of Life

Download or read book Approaching Death written by Committee on Care at the End of Life. This book was released on 1997-10-30. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the end of life makes its inevitable appearance, people should be able to expect reliable, humane, and effective caregiving. Yet too many dying people suffer unnecessarily. While an "overtreated" dying is feared, untreated pain or emotional abandonment are equally frightening. Approaching Death reflects a wide-ranging effort to understand what we know about care at the end of life, what we have yet to learn, and what we know but do not adequately apply. It seeks to build understanding of what constitutes good care for the dying and offers recommendations to decisionmakers that address specific barriers to achieving good care. This volume offers a profile of when, where, and how Americans die. It examines the dimensions of caring at the end of life: Determining diagnosis and prognosis and communicating these to patient and family. Establishing clinical and personal goals. Matching physical, psychological, spiritual, and practical care strategies to the patient's values and circumstances. Approaching Death considers the dying experience in hospitals, nursing homes, and other settings and the role of interdisciplinary teams and managed care. It offers perspectives on quality measurement and improvement, the role of practice guidelines, cost concerns, and legal issues such as assisted suicide. The book proposes how health professionals can become better prepared to care well for those who are dying and to understand that these are not patients for whom "nothing can be done."

Death

2019-11 Body, Mind & Spirit

Author : Joan Tollifson
Release : 2019-11
Genre : Body, Mind & Spirit
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 303/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Death by : Joan Tollifson

Download or read book Death written by Joan Tollifson. This book was released on 2019-11. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book celebrates the great stripping process of aging, dying and spiritual awakening. Beautiful, poignant, at times humorous, transcendent, messy, down to earth, refreshingly honest--the book explores death, and more importantly, being alive, through a rich mix of personal stories and spiritual reflections. Joan writes about her mother's final years and about being with friends and teachers at the end of their lives. She shares her own journey with aging, anal cancer, and other life challenges. She explores what it means to be alive in what may be the collapse of civilization and the possible extinction of life on earth due to climate change. Pointing beyond deficiency stories, future fantasies, and oppressive self-improvement projects, Joan invites an awakening to the immediacy of this moment and the wonder of ordinary life. She demonstrates a pathless path of genuine transformation, seeing all of life as sacred and worthy of devotion, and finding joy in the full range of our human experience.

A Good Life to the End

2017 Aging

Author : Ken Hillman
Release : 2017
Genre : Aging
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 549/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis A Good Life to the End by : Ken Hillman

Download or read book A Good Life to the End written by Ken Hillman. This book was released on 2017. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many of us have experienced an elderly loved one coming to the end of their life in a hospital, over-treated, infantilised and worst of all, facing death with no dignity at all. A huge majority of people at the end of their lives want to die at home, but only a small number manage to do this. This vital book asks why. Professor Ken Hillman has worked in intensive care since its inception. But he is appalled by the way ICU has become a place where the frail, soon-to-die and dying are given unnecessary operations and life-prolonging treatments without their wishes being taken into account and with their families being herded into making decisions that are not to the benefit of the patients. A Good Life to the End will embolden and equip us to ask about the options that doctors in hospital should offer us but mostly don't. It lets us know that there is another, gentler option for patients and their loved ones which is much more sympathetic to the final wishes of most people facing the end of their lives. An invaluable support for the elderly as well as their families, and a rallying cry for anyone who's had to witness the unnecessary suffering of a loved one, A Good Life to the End will spark debate, challenge the status quo and change lives.

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