What Dying People Want: Practical Wisdom for the End of Life [Hardcover]

David Kuhl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 2002

Based on research funded by the Soros Foundation's Project on Death in America and extensive interviews with dying people, an internationally renowned palliative care physician offers guidance on changing how we deal with death. Facing death results in more fear and anxiety than any other human experience. Western medicine has accomplished a great deal in addressing physical pain and symptom management for people with a terminal illness, but much slower progress has been made in understanding or alleviating psychological or spiritual distress. In What Dying People Want, Dr. David Kuhl begins to bridge that gap by addressing end-of-life realities through his own experiences and through the words and experiences of dying people. He presents ways of addressing the pain, of finding new life in the process of dying and of understanding the inner reality of living with a terminal illness. He acknowledges the despair and recognizes the desire for hope and meaning. Dr. Kuhl also makes the provocative case that insensitive communication by doctors creates more suffering for patients than either the actual illness or the knowledge of impending death and offers guidance on preventing painful interactions.This is not a feel-good book about how we are deepened by a loved one's death. It is not a book about the last few days or moments. This is a book about what the day-to-day experience of living with a terminal illness is like over a long period of time. It will offer guidance, solace, and helpful strategies for terminally people and their families and caregivers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The introduction in this wise book mentions something that author David Kuhl learned from his years of working with the terminally ill: "I didn't know how to talk to them about dying." In What Dying People Want, Kuhl shares his education on this topic by focusing on the daily experience of patients who are learning how to broach such discussions with their caregivers and families while coming to terms with their own mortality.

Heart-wrenching personal stories are intertwined with practical suggestions, and specific instances are frequently used to illustrate techniques, processes, and the importance of telling your story, rather than assuming your family already knows it. Kuhl focuses particularly on coming to terms with one's past. Discussions of family histories, lifelong priorities, and difficult choices are emphasized as tools for making peace among family members and with one's own conscience.

The daily life of pain management and support groups is also covered in detail, and Kuhl offers plenty of suggestions on how to begin that difficult conversation in which death is first acknowledged as a rapidly approaching fact. Written for patients and caregivers as well as friends and family, this useful guide will help everyone involved navigate the twists and turns of terminal illness. --Jill Lightner

From Library Journal

Drawing from case studies that he conducted as part of the Soros Foundation's "Death in America" project, Kuhl provides a balanced perspective on caring for the terminally ill. An M.D. himself, he acknowledges that doctors sometimes have poor interpersonal skills, and he offers helpful insight into why this is so and how patients can foster better communication. Besides discussing the physician's account of the clinical aspects of the dying process, Kuhl sensitively examines the harder-to-define psychological and spiritual issues. Unfortunately, he often focuses too much on certain patients whose stories are interesting but perhaps less applicable to the average person. Written for a general audience, this book will also fit well into medical libraries and other healthcare collections. Kuhl's research makes a good companion to Cynthia Pearson and Margaret L. Stubbs's Parting Company: Understanding the Loss of a Loved One. [The Soros Foundation, named after Hungarian American philanthropist George Soros, is a group of nonprofit organizations dedicated to creating and sustaining open societies around the world. Ed.] Annette Haines, Art & Design Field Lib., Anne Arbor, M.
- Annette Haines, Art & Design Field Lib., Anne Arbor, MI
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: PublicAffairs; 1 edition (July 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586481193
• ISBN-13: 978-1586481193
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,852,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wise and wonderful book, March 19, 2003

By 

"lauriern" (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Dying People Want: Practical Wisdom for the End of Life (Hardcover)

Dr. David Kuhl's book is the culmination of a ten year research study sponsored by the Project on Death in America. After receiving special training, he listened to the stories of people diagnosed with either cancer or AIDS. Even though his subjects, or "coresearchers" (his preferred term) were of varied marital, sexual, social, financial, familial and cultural backgrounds, their stories revealed common themes. Dr. Kuhl explains what each theme means to his coresearchers and translates their experiences into useful advice for terminally ill people, the people who love them and the health professionals caring for them.
Dr. Kuhl has written a quiet, thoughtful and moving book that is also quite practical. But be forewarned: it's not easy reading. For to acknowledge the dying experiences of others, we must confront our own mortality. Those who take the journey through to the end of the book may discover unexpected places in themselves more comfortably left hidden. But as Dr. Kuhl states, "Living and dying well involve enhancing one's sense of self, one's relationships with others, and one's understanding of the transcendent, the spiritual, the supernatural. And only in confronting the inevitability of death does one truly embrace life."

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Only for the Terminally Ill, January 7, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: What Dying People Want: Practical Wisdom for the End of Life (Hardcover)

This book has the ability to change the lives of any person. It is geared towards the terminally ill, however, due to my profession and my past personal experience with the terminally ill, I thought I might reach a better understanding of what one goes through and expects from us when dying but doesn't out right say. Page 18 changed the way I thought about dying. "If I am living the way I would like to be living then my death, if inevitable, shouldn't pose a fear within myself." It is an overall wonderful book that helps us see what we can do to help the person who is terminally ill and helps us prepare to make our lives more meaningful in the case that we are ever deamed that way ourselves. Some people say to become terminally ill was a gift to them, showed them things they'd never noticed before, however noone wants to die. This book is a gift!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Readable and valuable, October 13, 2005

By 

Michael Blyth (Jos, Nigeria) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Dying People Want: Practical Wisdom For The End Of Life (Paperback)

As pointed out in a previous review, this is not a book with the most up-to-date research and theory on grief, loss, and dying. But then, if it were, it would lose its primary audience, ordinary people. If you have done a lot of work in this area then you may not find much new, though I think the book is still a refreshing read. But it is a book I could recommend for many patients and family members, as well as some caregivers who may not have had much education and experience with grieving people. As a physician, I doubt that the book is too "basic" for most colleagues who are not in high-mortality specialties.