Book Reviews
Textbook of interdisciplinary pediatric palliative care
By J Wolfe, P S Hinds and B M Sourkes
ISBN: 978-1-4377-0262-0; 2011; 512 pages; Elsevier-Saunders;
Reviewed by Tom Laws
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Division of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide SA
Far fewer children than adults require end of life care and consequently palliative care is a relative new area of practice requiring guidance from burgeoning research and expert opinion. To date, almost all paediatric palliative care textbooks have been discipline specific yet those in the field acknowledge the benefits to be gained from interdisciplinary collaboration. In recognition of this phenomenon the authors of the 'Textbook of interdisciplinary pediatric palliative care', Drs. Joanne Wolfe, Pamela Hinds, and Barbara Sourkes, have created a first-of-its-kind approach to delivering sufficient and necessary guidance for shaping collaborative practices between disciplines. The majority of the chapters are co-authored by an interdisciplinary group; this approach to content along with an emphasis on effective team work allows the reader to fully appreciate the potential and proven solutions to the unique issues and dilemmas brought by children and adolescents as the approach their end of life. Communication between disciplines is facilitated within the text by consistent use of terminology and a discourse common to palliative care teams. The text is aimed at those practicing palliative medicine, pediatric oncologist, pediatric nurse practitioners and clinical nurse educators, psychology and social work with many chapters identifying specific needs and responsibilities of individual professions along with interwoven perspectives of team members.
As compendium of expert consults perspectives the book is organised as four sections. Section one, 'Setting the stage', provides the basis for understanding the interplay between the child's experience, ethical practice and evidence based intervention. Section two, 'Relationships: structure and communication', focuses on relationship building with the child and family in the in-hospital environment as well as the home. Section three, 'Overview: easing the suffering', practice has symptom management for fatigue, pain, psychological distress and delirium along with information of the effects on body system (respiratory, gastrointestinal, skin and haematology). Section four, 'Overview: illness and treatment experience', describes sequela and interventions for a range of causes of terminal illness (neurological, cardiac, immune deficiency, cystic fibrosis) as well as care of the very young (pre natal and neonatal) and those with inherited life threatening illness. Within these four sections the authors have brought together current concepts, key points to guide best practice and ethical debates on common dilemmas as well as future directions in palliative care.
It is difficult to do justice to such a comprehensive piece of work within a book review. Each chapter is written by a specialist and therefore the reference lists alone are of great quality and relevance. The variety of detail presented is impressive; for example, one author discusses the methodological problems of determining salient grief trajectories for fathers and mothers in the short term; in another chapter a table is produced illustrating parental grief trajectory in a nine year follow. It is indeed helpful for those working with families to know that 'Although fewer fathers than mothers have worked through their grief at four to six years after death of a child, they have come to terms with their loss to a greater extent at seven to nine years'. Grieving from palliative care team is also represented; noting that a combination of open forum for interdisciplinary team networking, formal rounds and education 'improved self-coping strategies for grief and bereavement' for staff.
This hardbound text is enhanced by on-line features; suppliers point out that full text of the book can be accessed online with regular updates and a range of additional resources such as education modules, research articles, patient handouts, and audio/visual materials. These enhancements mean that the life of the text is set to be extended well beyond most existing resources. The content is applicable to most western health care systems and authors provide context from a variety of countries (UK, USA, Greece, and Australia). There is comment of the wide variation in demand for palliative care among international pediatric and palliative care teams. Overall this text book represents excellent value for money for those working in palliative care or working with families who have a child with a chronic illness.
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