Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care in Hong Kong: The First Decade

Front Cover
Hong Kong University Press, Nov 1, 1999 - Medical - 312 pages
As the evidence-base for clinical practice in the management of life-threatening diseases and care at the end of life increases, it is apparent that psychosocial factors play a most profound role, influencing outcomes at every level from quality of life and satisfaction with clinical services through to duration of survival and mortality. This book documents some, but by no means all, of the developments that have occurred in the past decade in the area of psychosocial oncology and palliative care in Hong Kong. Contributions describing interventions by practitioners involved in service development in nursing, social work and clinical psychology, are complemented by chapters describing academic research and theoretical perspectives. The unique cultural mix of Hong Kong is given rich emphasis in the adaptations made by practitioners and academics to the interventions and theoretical issues outlined. As both a documentation of the efforts of some of those who helped psychosocial oncology and palliative care evolve in Hong Kong, and as a reflection of the need to more critically evaluate the impact of intervention efforts in health care, this volume provides a valuable resource. Nurses, social workers, psychologists and doctors involved in delivering or planning cancer treatment or palliative care will find this book useful. This book challenges many attitudes prevalent in Hong Kong and will, we hope, begin to break some of the taboos that continue to generate unnecessary suffering among the people cared for by our health care systems. The valuable experience documented in these pages can help others build the next generation of services to those with life-threatening illness and those at the end of life.

From inside the book

Contents

How It
13
Psychological Care in Oncology
29
The Quality of Life of Cancer Patients Receiving
55
Psychosocial Support for Parents of Children With Cancer
75
The Illness Experience of Patients With Nasopharyngeal
125
Lost for Words Improving Care for Dying People
143
An Empowerment Group for Chinese Cancer Patients
167
Using Creative Arts
189
Death Awareness and Palliative Care
213
Bereavement
233
Benefits and Drawbacks of Chinese Rituals Surrounding
255
The Next Decade or a New Millenium?
271
Index
277
Copyright

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Page 38 - One of the essential qualities of the clinician is interest in humanity, for the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.
Page 32 - Silent and boundless, Independent and changeless, Moving through immensity tirelessly, It may be regarded as the mother of the world. I do not know its name; I style it "Tao" or "Way"; And, in the absence of a better word, call it "the Great.
Page 55 - Their definition of quality of life is defined as: an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live, and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns.
Page 136 - ... self-direction, autonomy, and responsibility toward oneself and others • to become aware of one's choices and to make choices wisely • to make specific plans for changing certain behaviors and to commit oneself to follow through with these plans • to learn more effective social skills • to become more sensitive to the needs and feelings of others • to learn how to confront others with care, concern, honesty, and directness • to move away from merely meeting others...
Page 104 - Folkman (1984) define coping as "constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person
Page 55 - refers to patients' appraisal of and satisfaction with their current level of functioning compared to what they perceive to be possible or ideal
Page 9 - Chinese and Western health care systems: Professional stratification in a modernizing society. In Social Life and Development in Hong Kong, eds.
Page 69 - R. 1996. Multilingual translation of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) quality of life measurement system. Qual Life Res 5(3):309-320.
Page 70 - Development and validation of the Functional Assessment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection (FAHI) quality of life instrument. Qual Life Res, 1996, 5(4):45O463.

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