Main description:

This volume examines crucial concerns in palliative care, including the proper balance between comfort and cure for the patient, the integration of spiritual well-being, and the challenges of providing care in the absence of basic medical services and supplies.

In the first section, palliative-care pioneers Constance Dahlin, Eduardo Bruera, Neil MacDonald, and Declan Walsh recount the early history of the discipline. Part 2 discusses the role of poetry, prose, plays, and other aspects of the humanities in the practice of palliative care. Part 3 explores essential current issues in the field, including autonomy, the use of opioids, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the evolution of palliative care. The final section focuses on the spiritual dimensions of pain and suffering.

Rich with anecdotes and personal stories and featuring contributions from pioneers and current practitioners, The Pursuit of Life is an essential assessment of the past, present, and future of palliative care.

In addition to the editors, the contributors include W. Andrew Achenbaum, Stacy L. Auld, Elena Pagani Bagliacca, Costantino Benedetti, Courtenay Bruce, Eduardo Bruera, Joseph Calandrino, Jim Cleary, Constance Dahlin, Andrea Ferrari, Mauro Ferrari, Joseph J. Fins, Bettie Jo Tennon Hightower, Kathryn B. Kirkland, Robin W. Lovin, Neil MacDonald, Charles Millikan, Dominique J. Monlezun, Tullio Proserpio, Giovanna Sironi, Daniel P. Sulmasy, and Declan Walsh.

Contents:

Foreword, Diane E. Meier

Acknowledgments

Introduction, Robert Fine and Jack Levison

Palliative Care: Personal Memoirs

1. Evolution of Palliative Nursing: Art, Science, and Collaboration, Constance Dahlin

2. The Challenge of Bringing Palliative Medicine and Person-Centered Care to Large Hospitals and Universities, Eduardo Bruera

3. The Evolutionary Relationship of Oncology and

Palliative Care: A Personal Journey, Neil MacDonald

4. Palliative Medicine: A Personal Journey, Declan Walsh

Palliative Care: Pain and Suffering

5. Time to Death: Chronos, Kairos, and the "Longest Distance Between Two Poles," Joseph J. Fins

6. Teaching Clinicians to Read: How Narrative Medicine Prepares Clinicians for Palliative Care, Kathryn B. Kirkland

7. Sophocles, Hospice, and the Call of the Body, Joseph Calandrino

Palliative Care: Essential Issues

8. What Is Autonomy and What Is It Good For?, Daniel P. Sulmasy

9. Human Flourishing and Palliative Care: Autonomy, Mortality, and Rationality, Robin W. Lovin

10. The Robin Hood of Opioids: Palliative Care in the Underdeveloped World, James Cleary

11. Overcoming the Devastation Caused by Cultivated Ignorance About Pain and Opioid Addiction, Constantino Benedetti

12. Artificial Intelligence in Palliative Care: An Integral Look into the Future of Our End, Dominique J. Monlezun

Palliative Care: The Caregiver

13. A Spiritual Environment of Caring, Courtenay R. Bruce, Stacy L. Auld, and Charles R. Millikan

14. Preparing Spiritual Caregivers: Personal Reflections, Practical Advice, and Helpful Programs, W. Andrew Achenbaum

15. Palliative Care: A Chaplain's Perspective, Bettie Jo Tennon Hightower

16. Lucia's Dream: A Holistic Approach to Adolescents with Cancer, Tullio Proserpio, Elena Pagani Bagliacca, Giovanna Sironi, and Andrea Ferrari

Appendix

The Marialuisa Lectureship for Life: A Brief Introduction, Mauro Ferrari