Death, Dying and Bereavement: Issues for Practice (Policy and Practice in Health and Social Care Series): 11

Dr Watts considers the social context of death and dying in Britain today and the ways in which this influences service delivery. Care of the dying has become increasingly professionalised and medicalised and so hospitals, nursing homes and hospices are now the setting for most deaths. The provision of support for bereaved people has attracted greater attention with a large increase in the number of trained bereavement counsellors working in both charity and clinical settings. The theory and practice of palliative care, hospice development and a range of grief models that can inform bereavement care, drawing out some of the challenges for care practitioners forms the core of the book. Its underpinning themes include diversity; communication; palliative care; meanings of spirituality; and support for bereaved people. These issues are discussed against the general background of health and social care policy and with a particular focus on the review of Scottish palliative care services published in 2008 for the Auditor General of Scotland. Death, Dying and Bereavement provides an excellent overview of palliative care provision and the issues involved for students and for those health and social care workers, managers, policy makers and other practitioners who 'come into contact' with death and dying in their practice.

Jacqueline H. Watts is a Senior Lecturer and staff tutor in the Faculty of Health and Social Care of the Open University.