Neuropalliative Care. A Guide to Improving the Lives of Patients and Families Affected by Neurologic Disease

Chapter 1. Neuropalliative Care - Introduction

Section I: Disease and Symptom-Specific Considerations

Chapter 2. Severe Acute Brain Injury
Chapter 3. Prolonged Coma and Early Disorders of Consciousness
Chapter 4. Chronic Disorders of Consciousness
Chapter 5. Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders
Chapter 6. Dementia
Chapter 7. Multiple Sclerosis
Chapter 8. Neuromuscular Diseases
Chapter 9. Malignant Brain Tumors
Chapter 10. Child Neurology

Section II: Improving Communication and Treatment Decisions

Chapter 11. Communicating Effectively
Chapter 12. Prognostication
Chapter 13. Improving Medical Decisions
Chapter 14. Addressing and Managing Requests to Hasten Death
Chapter 15. Withholding and Withdrawing Life-Sustaining Treatments

Section III: Crosscutting Issues in Palliative Care

Chapter 16. Hospice and End of Life Care in Neurologic Disease
Chapter 17. Pain Assessment and Management
Chapter 18. Spiritual Care
Chapter 19. Clinician Self-Care
Chapter 20. Caregiver Assessment and Support
Chapter 21. Practical Implementation Strategies for Outpatient Neurology Palliative Care
Chapter 22. The Future of Neuropalliative Care

This comprehensive guide thoroughly covers all aspects of neuropalliative care, from symptom-specific considerations, to improving communication between clinicians, patients and families. Neuropalliative Care: A Guide to Improving the Lives of Patients and Families Affected by Neurologic Disease addresses clinical considerations for diseases such as dementia, multiple sclerosis, and severe acute brain injury, as well discussing the other challenges facing palliative care patients that are not currently sufficiently met under current models of care. This includes methods of effective communication, supporting the caregiver, how to make difficult treatment decisions in the face of uncertainty, managing grief, guilt and anger, and treating the pain itself. Written by leaders in the field of neuropalliative care, this book is an exceptional, well-rounded resource of neuropalliative care, serving as a reference for all clinicians caring for patients with neurological disease and their families: neurologists and palliative care specialists, physicians, nurses, chaplains, social workers, as well as trainees in these areas.

Claire J. Creutzfeldt, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology
University of Washington Harborview Medical Center
Seattle, WA
USA

Benzi M. Kluger, MD, MS, FAAN
Professor of Neurology
Chief Neurology Supportive and Palliative Care Section
Department of Neurology
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Aurora, CO
USA

Robert G. Holloway, MD, MPH, FAAN
Professor and Edward A. and Alma Vollertsen Rykenboer Chair
Department of Neurology
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, NY
USA