Vol. 21 •Issue 14 • Page 17
Book Review
Book Offers Help and Hope for Home Care Providers
Statistically, the biggest killers in the U.S. are lung diseases, which are generally long-term conditions marked by slow deterioration. Diseases like COPD exert a heavy toll on patients, their families and caregivers and resources of all types.
Most literature for this population is geared toward easing the patient’s plight, but not many books focus on the loved ones and caregivers who infuse time, money and emotions to help the patient live as comfortably as possible.
The Comfort of Home for Chronic Lung Disease: A Guide for Caregivers was written for the lay public. The book is a compendium of information for all involved in the home care of lung disease patients. The chapters are divided into three parts and range from descriptions of the most common lung diseases and care for specific patient types to preparations for end-of-life care.
Part 1 reviews chronic lung diseases and the problems and pitfalls of home care.
Part 2 describes daily regimen and care plans and reinforces the need to optimize the quality of daily living and to recognize and deal with emergency situations.
Part 3 contains a handy index for navigating the information, a glossary of terms, a section on common abbreviations and a list of specialists and national and regional caregiver organizations.
The authors wrote the text in plain, no-nonsense language. Checklists help readers make the information pertinent to their needs.
The Comfort of Home works for today’s patients and caregivers because increasing emphasis is being put on treating people at home without much thought given to those involved in physical care and in emotional and financial support. I highly recommend this book.
Dave Kissin is a Maine practitioner.
The Comfort of Home for Chronic Lung Disease
By Maria M. Meyer and Paula Derr, RN, with Mary E. Gilmartin, BSN, RRT, AE-C
Published by Care Trust Publications LLC
360 pages, $24.95
