The hospice companion : best practices for interdisciplinary care of advanced illness / Perry G. Fine ; associate editor, Matthew Kestenbaum.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. General Processes -- Palliative Care at the End of Life: Blending Structure and Function -- The Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) -- Documentation -- 2. Personal, Social, and Environmental Processes -- Abuse in the Home Advance Care Planning and Directives for Health-care Interventions -- Changes in Body Image and Loss of Independence -- Changes in Family Dynamics -- Completing Worldly Business and Life Closure -- Controlled Substances: Misuse and Abuse -- Cultural Differences: Respect, Understanding, and Adapting Care -- Denial -- Grief Reactions -- Living Environment, Finances, and Support Systems -- Basic Home Safety -- Suicide: Risk, Prevention, and Coping If It Happens -- 3. Clinical Processes and Symptom Management -- Air Hunger (Dyspnea) -- Agitation and Anxiety -- Anorexia and Cachexia -- Belching and Burping (Eructation) -- Bleeding, Draining, and Malodorous Lesions -- Confusion/Delirium -- Constipation -- Coughing -- Depression -- Diarrhea and Anorectal Problems -- Dysphagia and Oropharyngeal Problems -- Edema: Peripheral Edema, Ascites, and Lymphedema -- Fatigue, Weakness (Aesthenia), and Excessive Sedation -- Fever and Diaphoresis -- Hiccups -- Imminent Death -- Insomnia and Nocturnal Restlessness -- Nausea and Vomiting -- Pain -- Pruritus -- Seizures -- Skeletal Muscle and Bladder Spasms -- Skin Breakdown: Prevention and Treatment -- Urinary Problems -- Xerostomia (Dry Mouth) -- 4. Appendices -- Appendix 1: Palliative Radiation Therapy in End-of-Life Care: Evidence-Based Utilization -- Appendix 2: Principles of Pharmacotherapy -- Appendix 3: Ketamine Protocol -- Appendix 4: Clinical/Functional Assessment and Staging -- Appendix 5: Anticoagulation -- Index.

"The Hospice Companion is a guide to the processes of care during the intensive, interpersonal experiences of hospice work. This resource highlights the mission and values of modern-day hospice through the individual and combined efforts of the field's most valuable asset, the hospice professional. This easy-to-navigate clinical decision support tool for caregivers of those with life-limiting illnesses allows for personal and professional growth and a deeply gratifying sense of accomplishment as you proceed in the all-important work of caring for the dying. The third edition of The Hospice Companion features a thoroughly current guide to clinical processes and symptom management, providing hospice professionals with a concise summary of changes that have influenced clinical practice over the last several years. Moreover, feedback from hospice social workers has been incorporated into the section on personal, social, and environmental processes and guidance on integrative and non-pharmacologic interventions have been added." --Publisher's website.