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Living in Death’s Shadow

Family Experiences of Terminal Care and Irreplaceable Loss

Emily K Abel author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Johns Hopkins University Press

Published:10th Mar '17

Should be back in stock very soon

Living in Death’s Shadow cover

Written by one of the foremost historians of family caregiving, illness trajectories, and death and dying, this is an incredibly insightful and important book that will remind a wide range of readers that dying is a long, emotional process for many families. I applaud Abel's conclusion that we as a society can no longer ignore the process of living while dying. -- Patricia D'Antonio, PhD, RN, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, author of American Nursing: A History of Knowledge, Authority, and the Meaning of Work

Living in Death's Shadow is essential reading for everyone seeking to understand what it means to live with someone suffering from a chronic, fatal condition, including cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's, and heart disease.What is it like to live with-and love-someone whose death, while delayed, is nevertheless foretold? In Living in Death's Shadow, Emily K. Abel, an expert on the history of death and dying, examines memoirs written between 1965 and 2014 by family members of people who died from chronic disease. In earlier eras, death generally occurred quickly from acute illnesses, but as chronic disease became the major cause of mortality, many people continued to live with terminal diagnoses for months and even years. Illuminating the excruciatingly painful experience of coping with a family member's extended fatal illness, Abel analyzes the political, personal, cultural, and medical dimensions of these struggles. The book focuses on three significant developments that transformed the experiences of those dying and their intimates: the passage of Medicare and Medicaid, the growing use of high-tech treatments at the end of life, and the rise of a movement to humanize the care of dying people. It questions the exalted value placed on acceptance of mortality as well as the notion that it is always better to die at home than in an institution. Ultimately, Living in Death's Shadow emphasizes the need to shift attention from the drama of death to the entire course of a serious chronic disease. The chapters follow a common narrative of life-threatening disease: learning the diagnosis; deciding whether to enroll in a clinical trial; acknowledging or struggling against the limits of medicine; receiving care at home and in a hospital or nursing home; and obtaining palliative and hospice care. Living in Death's Shadow is essential reading for everyone seeking to understand what it means to live with someone suffering from a chronic, fatal condition, including cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's, and heart disease.

Recommended. All readers.
Choice
. . . impressive contribution to the history of caring.
H-Net Reviews
Historians of medicine, particularly death and dying, will find plenty of food for thought and inspiration for future scholarship in this study. But this book is also a timely political salvo, and it is to be hoped that it will be read widely for it is an astute and accessible critique of current attitudes and policies surrounding dying.
Society for the Social History of Medicine
In this book, the problems of palliative care are described from a slightly different angle (that of the relatives and carers), and I think most people who work in palliative care will find it a worthwhile read.
International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care
Living in Death's Shadow is essential reading for everyone seeking to understand what it means to live with someone suffering from a chronic, fatal condition, including cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's, and heart disease.
Nursing and Health Science

ISBN: 9781421421841

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 18mm

Weight: 386g

184 pages