The Crisis of Care

"This book is a precious gift to the reader; it speaks simultaneously to both head and heart, to provide the core nourishment that sustains and enhances those who offer human service to others. An absolutely essential acquisition for libraries serving the needs of the health professions, health care administration, and public policy."

By combining stories of care, the reflections of caregiving practitioners, and interpretations of caregiving within a larger social and theoretical framework, this title identifies the values and skills involved in quality caregiving at the individual level and affirms their importance for reshaping our public caregiving institutions.By combining stories of care, the reflections of caregiving practitioners, and interpretations of caregiving within a larger social and theoretical framework, this collection identifies the values and skills involved in quality caregiving at the individual level and affirms their importance for reshaping our public caregiving institutions. Contributors from the fields of medicine, nursing, teaching, ministry, sociology, psychotherapy, theology, and philosophy articulate their values, hopes, commitments, and practices both in theoretical essays and in narratives of caregiving that reveal the complexities of skillful practice.