Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Hospice care is available to patients and families dealing with terminal illness. People often do not avail themselves of hospice care because they don't understand what it entails. Many wait until their last few days to request this extraordinary comfort care instead of using the full six months available to them through Medicare and other insurance options. Demystifying Hospice describes through stories good news about end-of-life issues. Written from the perspective of a licensed social worker with experience in public and private hospitals, hospice, and the American Cancer Society, these first-hand accounts of patients, family members, hospice workers and others will lift spirits, touch hearts, and illustrate the advantages of hospice care. These are real-life examples of personalized comfort care, offered by an interdisciplinary team, where ever the patient lives. Each story addresses some aspect of helping families through the caregiving and grieving process, which are part-and-parcel of a serious illness, and offers comfort and understanding to readers who may be going through similar experiences. This book describes hope, healing, and support through difficult times.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgments (p. ix)
• Introduction (p. xi)
• 1 First Visits by the Social Worker (p. 1)
• 2 Hospice Care at Home (p. 19)
• 3 Caring for the Caregiver (p. 35)
• 4 Hospice in a Place You Call Home (p. 45)
• 5 Finding Meaning (p. 57)
• 6 Dramatic Challenges (p. 67)
• 7 Social Isolation (p. 75)
• 8 Saying Goodbye (p. 87)
• 9 Remembering (p. 103)
• 10 Mixed Feelings about End-of-Life Care (p. 113)
• 11 Making Good End-of-Life Decisions (p. 119)
• 12 Reflections (p. 125)
• Appendix A Ways to Make a Limited Life More Pleasant for the Patient and the Caregiver (p. 131)
• Appendix B Selected Bibliography (p. 135)
• Appendix C Suggested Reading (p. 137)
• Appendix D Glossary, Terms, and Abbreviations (p. 139)
• Appendix E Helpful Websites (p. 147)
• Appendix F Films that May Help Discussions of End-of-Life Issues (p. 151)
• Appendix G The Differences between Home Health Care, Palliative Care, and Hospice (p. 153)
• Notes (p. 155)
• Index (p. 163)
• About the Author (p. 169)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Clayton makes another case for the benefits of hospice. Over 40 percent of people eligible for this six-month benefit receive it only within the last two weeks of life. Through experiential stories from her social work practice, Clayton gives down-to-earth illustrations of how terminally ill people and their families could enjoy a higher quality of life during their dying journey. The stories address when hospice is appropriate, how and where hospice care is given, the needs of the dying and their caregivers, how care is personalized, and most importantly the benefits of meaningful relationships between all involved--patients, families, and their lay and professional care providers. An added benefit of the story format is that it demonstrates through examples how to establish meaningful relationships, making the book valuable not only to people and families approaching the end of life but also professional healthcare providers, who often lack experience giving end of life care and who may themselves be grappling with their own uncertainties about death. Besides the standard reference section, several useful appendixes are included--tips for family members in giving care, a glossary of terms and abbreviations related to the end of life, and recommended readings, media, and websites. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers, graduate students, and professionals. --Linda K. Strodtman, emerita, University of Michigan

Booklist Review

Hospice is extraordinary! With this opening line, Clayton, a social worker and sociologist, declares her advocacy. In what she calls a gentle book about a difficult subject, she spells out the benefits of compassionate care for people who can't get more curative treatment, or who don't want more of it. Clayton explains that the word hospice comes from the same root as hospitality, and in medieval times, hospices were places of rest and shelter for weary travelers. She also talks about finances. Medicare and Medicaid cover six months of care. Yet in 2016, the average length of stay for the 1.43 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in one of the 4,382 Medicare-certified U.S. hospices was just 72 days. About a third of hospice patients waited until the last week of their lives to use these centers. Clayton offers useful advice, including good tips on how to make last days more pleasant for both the patient and caregivers. Deepened by Clayton's feeling that it is an honor to find ways to help people say goodbye to their loved ones, this guide is invaluable.--Karen Springen Copyright 2018 Booklist

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Karen J. Clayton is a social worker and sociologist. Her writing interests focus currently on demystifying hospice to encourage patients, caregivers and other family members, educators, and administrators to better understand the practical workings of hospice and to use it in a timelier manner. Clayton is an active member of the Oak Harbor Writers Group, and the American Association of University Woman, Island County, Washington. She taught sociology and cross-cultural communication at the University of Texas, Tarrant County Junior College, Southwestern Adventist University, and La Sierra University, where she was also the Education Curator for the Stahl Center Museum of Culture (Riverside, CA).