Changing the Way We Die: Compassionate End of Life Care and The Hospice Movement - Softcover

Smith, Fran; Himmel, Sheila

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1936740516 ISBN 13: 9781936740512

Publisher: Viva Editions, 2013

Synopsis

There’s a quiet revolution happening in the way we die. More than 1.5 million Americans a year die in hospice care―nearly 44 percent of all deaths―and a vast industry has sprung up to meet the growing demand. Once viewed as a New Age indulgence, hospice is now a $14 billion business and one of the most successful segments in health care. Changing the Way We Die, by award-winning journalists Fran Smith and Sheila Himmel, is the first book to take a broad, penetrating look at the hospice landscape.

Changing the Way We Die is a vital resource for anyone who wants to be prepared to face life’s most challenging and universal event. You will learn:

• Hospice use is soaring, yet most people come too late to get the full benefits.
• With the age tsunami, it becomes even more critical for families and patients to choose end-of-life care wisely.
• Hospice at its best is much more than a way to relieve the suffering of dying. It is a way to live.

Winner of the 2014 Independent Publisher Award Silver Medal in Aging/Death & Dying

About this title

From the Back Cover

What You Need to Know Before You Need to Know It

There’s a quiet revolution happening in the way we die. Almost half of all Americans now die in hospice care, often at home, and a vast industry has sprung up to meet the growing demand.

Once viewed with suspicion as a New Age indulgence or fringe religious practice, hospice has become a $14 billion-a-year business and arguably the most successful segment of health care in America. In Changing the Way We Die, award-winning journalists Fran Smith and Sheila Himmel investigate what hospice means to today’s aging population and their families. It’s the first book to take a sweeping look at the hospice landscape, reporting the stories of patients, caregivers and cutting-edge researchers, as well as the corporate giants that increasingly own this market.

More than 76 million baby boomers are starting to turn 65 and 97 percent of Americans want to be better informed about end-of-life care. Changing the Way We Die is a vital and uplifting resource for readers facing life’s most challenging moments.

About the Author

Fran Smith is a writer, editor, writing coach, and communications consultant. Her work has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine; Redbook; Salon; Good Housekeeping; Prevention; Health; the Los Angeles Times; USA Today, and dozens of other publications and websites. She has won many awards for medical reporting, health care investigations, and feature writing, and shared a Pulitzer Prize as a reporter at the San Jose Mercury News. Fran co-authored the first reporters’ guidebook published by the Association of Health Care Journalists, and she is a frequent speaker on the power of storytelling, health care writing, and effective communications. A history buff, she is also the author of Breaking Ground: The Daring Women of the YWCA of the Santa Clara Valley, 1905 – 2005. (YWCA: 2005). She lives in New York.

Edition details

• Publisher: Viva Editions
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1936740516
• ISBN 13: 9781936740512
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288