Crossing Over: Narratives of Palliative Care [Paperback]

David Barnard (Author), Anna M. Towers (Author), Patricia Boston (Author), Yanna Lambrinidou (Author), Anna Towers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2000

Crossing Over provides a unique view of patients, families, and their caregivers striving together to maintain comfort and hope in the face of incurable illness. The narratives weave together emotions, physical symptoms, spiritual concerns, and the stresses of family life, as well as the professional and personal challenges of providing hospice and palliative care. Based on a vast amount of participant-observation and in-depth interviews, Crossing Over moves far beyond dry technical manuals for symptom control, and tired clich�s about death with dignity, to depict the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the daily in patients homes and the palliative care unit. It captures the breathtaking diversity of people's aspirations and ideals as they face death, and the views of the professionals who care for them. Anger and fear, tenderness and reconciliation, jealousy and love, social support and falling through the cracks, unexpected courage and unshakable faith-- all of these are part of facing death in late twentieth-century North America, and this book brings them to life in an extraordinary portrait of the processes of giving and receiving palliative care.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The pain of loss can be overcome, says Attig, an "applied philosopher" and past president of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, by survivors who keep alive in their hearts their love for the departed. He repeats his message in each of some 50 brief chapters, using numerous anecdotes gleaned from his experiences as a counselor to explain how he has helped people cope with the loss of loved ones. Whatever the problem a survivor faces, Attig offers his mantraDkeep love alive. If we can remember and sustain our connection with the departed, they will always remain with us. Among the death-related topics Attig covers are ways to help children deal with loss; ghosts; the solace of traditional religious rites; how to use memories and stories of loved ones in daily life; and finding the presence of loved ones in familiar places. He recommends that we honor the memory of the departed by acting as they would have wished us to, to work for causes they held dear or even just to reminisce about our relationships with them. While his message is valuable, Attig's one-note thesis may be too simplistic and repetitive to strike a distinctive chord for readers seeking solace among the offerings in this crowded category. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"The text would be an excellent addition to any collection on death and dying. In a non-judgemental manner the authors have examined the individualism of dying while maintaining the clinical aspects."--Bibliotheca Medica Canadian, 2000 Winter

"All the narratives are engrossing. They are also instructive, illustrating how the issues that arise in palliative care can be addressed through a team process."--JAMC, March 20, 2001

"The affective void of traditional medical writing gives way to the richly varied texture of lived existential experience. The narrator's voice is also clear. Qualitative research posits that the researcher is a dunamic, interactive element in the human equation."--Annals, March 2001

"This text is an excellent reminder that when we die, we will be able to decide what is right for us. For clinicians and lay people, and a must for the library of any clinician who deals with end-of-life issues."--ChoiceMiddletown, CT, May 2001

"A welcome addition to the fast-growing literaturein this field of human need and response." --Dr. Derek Doyle

"Too many times clinicians and caregivers alike want to decide what is good and what is bad about a death experience. This text is an excellent reminder that when we die, we will be able to decide what is right for us. While others may make suggestions or offer information, they must allow the patient to decide how this event should procede.... Weighted Numerical Score: 100 - 5 Stars!" -- Doody's

"Crossing Over is an impressive collection of 20 'narratives' of people facing the end of their lives alongside their professional and informal careers. What makes this book quite outstanding is the wealth of clinical experience contained within its pages - covering the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual issues of dying. This book emphasizes all aspects of holistic care with equal importance in the day-to-day work of end-of-life care. Because the text is about the actuality of 'crossing over', it is not surprising that spirituality and religious ritual play an important part in the text. This book will be extremely helpful for all disciplines working within the field of special palliative care. The emotional energy that many of the narratives must have consumed just to work with, let alone write down, is enormous. The authors need to be congratulated for bringing together an extremely coherent masterpiece in an easy-to-read style." -- Progress in Palliative Care, Vol 8 Num 4

"Crossing Over is written with the education and training of physicians, nurses, chaplains, therapists, and social workers in mind. The author-investigators have taken pains to capture and convey the perspectives of patients and their families. This is cinema-verite projected in written word: the experience of illness, dying and caregiving photographed with available light, through clinical lenses. Crossing Over reads as biography, ethnography, comparative socialogy, and medical anthropology. However, true to its intention, it remains a clinical report. The book ultimately succeeds in conveying the essence of palliative care." -- Ira Byock, Hastings Center Report, Nov-Dec 2000

"This work is a collection of narratives that each provide a glimpse into the later stages of a terminal illness. The narratives cover a wide range of concerns, touching on the emotions of both patients and caregivers, physicial symptoms, spiritual concerns, stress on family relationships, and the challenge of providing adequate hospice and palliative care. At the end of the book, the authors of each narrative provide commentary and raise questions for discussion. Additionally, the book is complete with an index of themes and an extensive list of further reading." -- Journal of Social Work Education, Winter 2001

"...an insightful and challenging attempt to document the gap that exists between the theories of palliative care and the realitites of its day-to-day practice...this book is refreshing in its avoidance of false hope and tidy resolutions."--Journal of Palliative Care

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 451 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (March 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195123433
• ISBN-13: 978-0195123432
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #655,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #64 in Books > Medical Books > Nursing > Oncology

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Heart of Grief, September 24, 2001

By 

Nancy J. Keesee, Ph.D. (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heart of Grief: Death and the Search for Lasting Love (Hardcover)

On September 11, 2001, many sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters died. I lost my own son 10 years ago and since that time I have wondered what can really be of help to parents, or other grievers in learning to live with such loss. Now, more than ever, life seems so fragile in this world and the need for understanding grief as important as ever. It is so hard when grief is so great. Our fears of our own mortality spring to the front stage of our emotins nakedly exposed to others. I recently found Tom Attig's The Heart of Grief and it met me right where I was. Using his personal experiences of grieving people, Attig describes a process of learning to love in a new way. He recounts the stories of people's losses and provides a myriad of ways that grievers have found to continue loving the ones they have lost.
Of course, we do not stop loving or forget our loved one. Death does not end our relationshipwith the deceased, but it is different. They are forever gone from this life. Attig suggests that sometimes people fear that when they accept the loss it means they have stopped loving the deceased person. Many people, who are unable to let themselves feel the full impact of their loss, find themselves stuck in wishing for the past and the return of a loved one. Consequently, there can be no real acceptance of the loss. Attig emphaasizes the need to BE SAD because what has happened IS SO SAD. Feeling intense sadness scares many people, so Attig encourages us to find someone to accompany us on this journey, a spouse, a friend, or a professional.
Most importantly, Attig writes that if we do not fully accept and greive our loss, we may have difficulty ever loving again. It is only through acceptance of our losses that we can continue to love those who have died in a new way and to love those who are still with us and love us. The use of real peoples' stories of loss are inspirational and give hope. Attig provides numerous examples and possiblities of ways to learn to love anew. Whether you are grieving a loss yourself or know someone who is, this book is very readable, relateable, informative and comforting. We all will be grievers some day. I highly recommend this book. I has a permenant place of importance on my bookshelf.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Caring Doesn't End with Death, August 3, 2001

By 

Phyllis Silverman, Ph.D. (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heart of Grief: Death and the Search for Lasting Love (Hardcover)

Tom Attig has written a gentle, tender and very readable book with a strong message verifying what every bereaved person knows. Connections to the deceased don't end with death. There is no such thing as closure or putting the past behind us advice often given to the bereaved that leaves with feeling as if something is wrong with them, rather than with the advice. Attig, through the stories he tells describes the fullness of human relationships and how we carry those we love with us even after their death.This is a must book not only for the bereaved but for those who want to help them.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars highly recommended for the bereaved or those wanting to help, July 19, 2001

By 

T. Golden (Gaithersburg, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Heart of Grief: Death and the Search for Lasting Love (Hardcover)

This book throws new light on the topic of healing from loss and approaches the perils of grief from a new direction that reframes the process. Attig helps us to see that grief is related to learning to continue to love the person who has died without the advantage of having their body present. This is strikingly different from the traditional views of healing from grief through revisiting the past. It frees many of us to find ways of grieving that are considerably different from the traditional "talking and crying" approach. This book shows us how to love the person who has died through embracing their legacies in ways that harmonize with our being and interests and thus unlocks us from the burden of grieving in the "right way." Through this process we develop a new relationship with the person who died and in many instances through our grief we learn to carry the person forward in a profoundly healing manner.

Importantly, Attig links grief with love. In a clinical and detached world we too often forget that this is a most difficult aspect of dealing with loss. If we miss this, we are missing the major thrust of grief. Attig says, "We can give places in our hearts to those who have died. As we do, we experience lasting love. We continue to love them. We sense that they still love us." It is this continuation of love that rightfully permeates this book.

I highly recommend it.