Yale University Press
Yale University Press Health & Wellness
- Uses the latest research and draws on case histories and interviews.
- Is a resource as well as a source of inspiration, with a blend of powerful stories and practical advice.
- Helps caregivers cope with numerous challenges, including parents who need but refuse help; siblings who don’t get along; the complexity of healthcare systems; financial issues; juggling work and caregiving; the use of technology; the power of connecting with a loved one who has dementia; and realizing the benefits amid the burdens of caregiving.
“Dr. Coakley’s book is a superb roadmap and guide for parents of children and adolescents with chronic pain. Her tone and message will resonate with parents from a very broad array of backgrounds and parenting styles. Just the right balance of contemporary research, evidence for what works, and down-to-earth, practical guidance. Simply the best book on this subject for parents.”—Charles Berde, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Pain Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital
Parents of a child in pain want nothing more than to offer immediate comfort. But a child with chronic or recurring pain requires much more. His or her parents need skills and strategies not only for increasing comfort but also for helping their child deal with an array of pain-related challenges, such as school disruption, sleep disturbance, and difficulties with peers. This essential guide, written by an expert in pediatric pain management, is the practical, accessible, and comprehensive resource that families and caregivers have been awaiting. It offers in-the-moment strategies for managing a child’s pain along with expert advice for fostering long-term comfort.
Dr. Rachael Coakley, a clinical pediatric psychologist who works exclusively with families of children with chronic or recurrent pain, provides a set of research-proven strategies—some surprisingly counter-intuitive—to achieve positive results quickly and lastingly. Whether the pain is disease-related, the result of an injury or surgery, or caused by another condition or syndrome, this book offers what every parent of a child in pain most needs: effective methods for reversing the cycle of chronic pain.
Practical. Easy to read. Comprehensive. Encouraging. Accurate. All of these words describe this indispensable book that belongs in the hands of all family members and other caretakers of people who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.
Dr. Eric Pfeiffer, a physician who has devoted thirty years to patients suffering from all forms of dementia, here distills the wisdom of those years for the benefit of caregivers confronting some of life’s most challenging days. Dr. Pfeiffer’s genuine compassion and wise advice are certain not only to reduce caregiver stress but also to improve the patient’s quality of life.
In these pages are specific tips for all stages of caregiving, from the initial realization of the problem through mild, moderate, and severe stages of dementia, and even beyond, when a caregiver begins to resume a full life after the patient’s death. Dr. Pfeiffer identifies specific problems and provides practical solutions. He explains the importance of support groups and many other means of dealing with stressful days. For experienced caregivers and those new to the challenges, this book will be a profoundly useful guide to coping successfully.
Where can the most accurate and helpful information about hearing loss be found? From a friend or relative who has impaired hearing? From an experienced audiologist? Both, says the author of this essential book!
In an unusual new approach, audiologist John M. Burkey offers not only specific and up-to-date information based on his own extensive experience with patients, but also useful, first-hand advice from those patients themselves. The Hearing-Loss Guide presents clear, basic facts on hearing impairment and treatments, followed by candid personal recommendations from people who are coping successfully with hearing difficulties. For anyone confronting hearing loss, for family members and friends, and for others who work alongside or care for a person with a hearing impairment, this book is a must-read.
Inside The Hearing-Loss Guide:
· Specific practical advice from patients and family members for coping with hearing loss
· A professional audiologist’s clear explanations of hearing loss, current treatments, hearing aids, and other devices
· Helpful suggestions for friends, co-workers, and caretakers of persons with hearing difficulties
Seven million Americans suffer from chronic or slow-healing wounds—this number includes people with diabetes, dementia, paralysis, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and poor circulation, as well as the elderly and those with reduced mobility. Healing Wounds, Healthy Skin provides patients and caregivers with everything they need to know on the subject, including:
- Why chronic wounds develop and who is at risk of developing them
- What "normal healing" is
- What the different types of wounds are, including those associated with chronic disease
- How to find appropriate care and get a correct diagnosis
- What role exercise and nutrition play in treatment and prevention
- What treatment options are available, from surgery to alternative therapies
Also covered are the patients' psychological and emotional experiences, myths about wounds and wound healing, steps to take in an emergency, and a wound patient's bill of rights. With up-to-date information, insightful patient case histories, and a wealth of essential resources, this is the book that chronic wound patients and their caregivers can turn to with confidence.
According to the federal Office of Minority Health, African Americans "are affected by serious diseases and health conditions at far greater rates than other Americans." In fact, African Americans suffer an estimated 85,000 excess deaths every year from diseases we know how to prevent: heart disease, stroke, cancer, high blood pressure, and diabetes. In this important and accessible book, Dr. Michelle Gourdine provides African Americans with the knowledge and guidance they need to take charge of their well-being.
Reclaiming Our Health: A Guide to African American Wellness begins with an overview of the primary health concerns facing African Americans and explains who is at greatest risk of illness. Expanding on her career and life experiences as an African American physician, Dr. Gourdine presents key insights into the ways African American culture shapes health choices—how beliefs, traditions, and values can influence eating choices, exercise habits, and even the decision to seek medical attention. She translates extensive research into practical information and presents readers with concrete steps for achieving a healthier lifestyle, as well as strategies for navigating the health-care system.
This interactive guide with illustrations is a vital resource for every African American on how to live a healthier and more empowered life, and an indispensable handbook for health-care providers, policy makers, and others working to close the health gap among people of color. Says Gourdine, "I wrote this book to empower our community to solve our own health problems and to save our own lives."
Hospitalization is often as dismaying and frightening for family members as it is for the patient. And despite a heartfelt desire to understand what is happening and to comfort a sick or injured loved one, too often relatives and friends feel helpless and marginalized by the hospital system. This valuable book is the first to assist families and friends of adult patients to navigate the unfamiliar and intimidating territory of the hospital. It spells out in the clearest terms how a family can form a partnership with medical providers to ensure the best patient care possible.
Patrick Conlon’s inspiration for the book was the sudden, frightening hospitalization of his longtime partner, Jim, and his personal struggle to develop a useful role for himself as a caregiver. Here he provides the handbook he wishes he’d had when Jim was admitted to the hospital. Conlon offers encouragement, proven strategies, and straightforward adviceall with the goal of empowering others to become successful care partners at the bedside of their loved ones.
Special features of the book:
--Simple dos and don’ts to help you help your loved one and interact with hospital professionals
--Handy tear-out checklists to fill in when consulting a surgeon, preparing for discharge, making a complaint, updating family and friends, and planning important meetings
--Definitions of hospital jargonterms, abbreviations, euphemisms, an acronyms
--Sidebars with interesting facts: Can cell phones interfere with sensitive medical equipment? Why don’t British doctors wear neckties? What’s the average length of stay in an ICU?
--Easy-to-use caregiver’s chart and diary
Anyone who is diagnosed with cancer receives a frightening blow, and in many cases the diagnosis is accompanied by a bewildering array of treatment choices. In this invaluable book, Dr. Richard C. Frank offers comfort and help to cancer patients, their families, and their caretakers. Dr. Frank empowers patients by unlocking the mysteries of the disease and explaining in plain language the ways to confront and combat it.
An award-winning medical oncologist recognized for his humanitarian approach as well as his research accomplishments, Dr. Frank understands that cancer patients and their families need insight into the disease along with a sense of control. He therefore addresses these vital topics:
–what cancer is and how it spreads
–how cancer treatment strategies are chosen
–how cancer-fighting drugs work to shut down the growth of the disease
–which factors affect a patient’s prognosis
–how patients can visualize cancer treatments at work in the body and why this is helpful
–how to deal with “uncurable” cancer
–and more.
With a wealth of patient case histories, helpful coping strategies from cancer survivors, and up-to-date information on useful resources, Fighting Cancer is the book cancer patients and their loved ones can turn to with confidence and hope.
A diagnosis of breast cancer is among the most frightening moments in a person’s lifeso frightening that even to formulate questions for the doctor may seem impossible. This helpful book is written as a guide for women and men facing breast cancer and for their caring families and friends. It is also written for women who have not been diagnosed with breast cancer but are concerned that they may be.
Drawing on her many years of experience with breast cancer patients, Dr. Ruth H. Grobstein provides exactly the information they want and need in order to make the best health decisions. Her jargon-free book deals with general issues of interest to all womenmammography, hormone replacement therapy, risk factors for breast cancer, and moreas well as the numerous issues that patients diagnosed with breast cancer confront. Her book will be an indispensable companion, providing reliable information for patients on the journey through a sometimes confusing and impersonal medical system.
Complete, up-to-date, and readable, the book explains how to come to terms with the diagnosis of prostate cancer, evaluate the severity of the disease, and assess the variety of treatment options and their complications. Many chapters provide information other books barely consider, such as a full discussion of the causes of prostate cancer and an evaluation of other books on the subject. Also included is a summary of the most useful Web sites.
The author mixes his personal experience with factual material, and he maintains a reassuring sense of humor. His advice is practical, with dozens of tips and lists including Ten Steps to Sanity for Men Recently Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer.” With Dr. Torrey’s book in hand, readers can now tackle all the important decisions about prostate cancer, confident in having the most accurate and complete information available.
This clear, accessible book combines detailed medical information with expert treatment advice for the estimated twenty million Americans who suffer from dry eye syndrome. Dr. Steven L. Maskin, an ophthalmologist who has been caring for dry eye patients for more than fifteen years, explains exactly what the syndrome is, why it occurs, and how it can best be managed and treated. He dispels the misunderstandings that surround dry eye syndrome and presents an easy-to-understand guide that may be read cover-to-cover or dipped into for specific topics of interest. Dr. Maskin begins with an overview of dry eye syndrome, then explains the myriad ways it can develop (allergies, aging, contact-lens use, LASIK surgery, diabetes, and various other diseases). He discusses how it can be successfully diagnosed and treated, offers guidelines for choosing a doctor and appropriate medications, and describes useful home remedies. In a concise final chapter, the doctor provides welcome answers to frequently asked questions. For patients who want to understand their disease and to participate actively in its management, this book is an essential reference.
