Peaceful Dying: The Step-by-step Guide To Preserving Your Dignity, Your Choice, And Your Inner Peace At The End Of Life [Paperback]

Daniel R. Tobin (Author), Karen Lindsey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 1968

A physical, psychological, and spiritual transition that can bring with it the potential for great personal growth and family closeness, dying requires special care and understanding. Peaceful Dying, based on the FairCare program founded by Dr. Dan Tobin, presents a 26-step program designed to return control and peace to those who have entered this stage of life and to help all involved—the dying, their families, and health-care providers alike—appreciate the challenges dying presents. From addressing such formal concerns as creating a living will and pain relief to finding forgiveness, love, and peace of mind, this compassionate and empowering guide will ease our natural anxieties about the end of life, turning this fearful prospect into a fulfilling legacy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When he was in medical school, Tobin recognized a significant deficiency in modern medicine regarding what he somewhat demurely terms "end-of-life situations." He reports, "To the physicians and the staff, death was seen as a defeat... a personal failure." Worse, while he observed doctors "fighting the dying process to the bitter end," patients died "in moderate to severe pain and... living wills [were] often ignored." Tobin is against suicide, assisted or otherwise, and offers his program of "palliative, comfort-based care" as an alternative. Whether the dying process is experienced in a hospital, nursing home, hospice or home, Tobin's "FairCare Health System," which he developed at the VA Hospital in Albany, N.Y., addresses the specific needs of the dying: pain management, psychological and spiritual counseling and assistance with such practical matters as writing a living will and appointing a medical proxy. Tobin delineates six stages of dying: "shock, grasping, grief, letting go, healing, and serenity." He then breaks down those stages to show readers 26 steps they can take to make the process of dying easier, including taking control of choices, facing fears, communicating with doctors and loved ones and planning a funeral. Suggesting that patients take back the dying process in the same manner that women have changed birthing practices, Tobin offers compassion, complete information and sound advice that will be of great use to the terminally ill, their loved ones and their health care providers.

Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Daniel R. Tobin, M.D., piloted the FairCare program for peaceful dying at the V.A. Hospital in Albany, New York. He is now expanding the program to a network of other hospitals and consulting for insurers on end-of-life issues. Karen Lindsey is coauthor of Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book and Dr. Susan Love's Hormone Book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; 1 edition (January 22, 1968)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738200344
• ISBN-13: 978-0738200347
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,339,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent summary of end of life care, June 20, 1999

By 

alexandra bottinelli - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peaceful Dying: The Step-by-step Guide To Preserving Your Dignity, Your Choice, And Your Inner Peace At The End Of Life (Paperback)

I am writing in response to the "someone read this book and killed himself" reference. I understand the pain of losing someone to suicide, and offer my condolences and compassion to the person who wrote the message. But I must say, having read this book and knowing Dr. Tobin, that there is nothing in this book that advocates suicide. Dr. Tobin spends his life giving and teaching about compassionate care for the dying in all dimensions: physical, psychological, spiritual. He is committed to the notion that dying can be a pain-free time of peace and growth.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent for families and health care workers, September 25, 2009

By 

N. Miller (Maine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Peaceful Dying: The Step-by-step Guide To Preserving Your Dignity, Your Choice, And Your Inner Peace At The End Of Life (Paperback)

I am a hospice worker and senior citizen. This is an easy to read book full of helpful suggestions for professionals and families alike. We have a copy at our agency and one at our local hospital for the staff there. It helps make family communication and discussion more comfortable and contributes to the peace that comes with clarity and choices regarding end of life care.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 26 STEPS TOWARDS DEATH, September 15, 2010

By 

James L. Park "James Leonard Park" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Peaceful Dying: The Step-by-step Guide To Preserving Your Dignity, Your Choice, And Your Inner Peace At The End Of Life (Paperback)

Daniel R. Tobin, MD with Karen Lindsey

Peaceful Dying:

The Step-by-Step Guide to Preserving Your Dignity,

Your Choice, and Your Inner Peace at the End of Life

(Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2003) 206 pages

(ISBN: 0-7382-0034-4; paperback)

This book divides the process of dying into 26 steps,

explained in ways that anyone can understand.

Major themes:

Talking with your doctor and family.

Creating an Advance Directive.

Searching for meaning in your life.

Making decisions about terminal care.

Pain control.

Spiritual concerns.

Altho this book breaks no new ground,

it can be helpful to patients and their families

as they face the process of dying perhaps for the first time.

If you want to read other books on getting ready for the end,

search the Internet for this bibliography:

"Best Books on Preparing for Death".

James Leonard Park, existential philosopher.