“A compassionate exploration of some of the challenging issues that patients and families face when we become seriously unwell. A helpful guide about how it helps to decide on personal priorities and preferences. A must read for patients, their loved ones and healthcare professionals alike.”
Coping With Crisis
by D. Robin Taylor
Navigating the challenges of medical decision-making in critical illness.
SUMMARY
Being in hospital with acute illness is demanding for patients and families, even more so if the illness is life-threatening. “Having the conversation” with a health professional can be stressful. It helps to think through the relevant issues:
- the meaning of prognosis
- processing uncertainty
- what to do for the best: scenario planning
- the meaning of DNACPR and ACP
- letting go versus clinging on when there is the possibility of dying
- having the confidence to make treatment preferences known
COPING WITH CRISIS provides information as well as sensitive guidance. It is designed to set people up for good conversations and shared decision-making.
The Author
D. Robin Taylor was Professor of Medicine at the University of Otago, New Zealand until he returned to Scotland in 2013. He is a consultant in respiratory medicine at University Hospital Wishaw, and is Honorary Consultant in the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Edinburgh.
UNDERSTANDING
100%
of patients found it easy to understand
SHARING
82%
would be happy to share it with family members
COPING
77%
thought that it helped them think through their health problems
COPING WITH CRISIS is being made available on the bedside lockers of hospital wards and outpatient consulting rooms.
COPING WITH CRISIS is sold on a not-for-profit basis. For hospitals, patient endowment funds have been used as a source of funding.
Comments about the booklet
“My brother has cystic fibrosis and is receiving palliative care. No one is speaking to him about what he wants. He doesn’t feel he can bring up his wishes with the hospital team or his mother. This booklet would be a great help for that type of conversation”.
– Sister of a severly disabled patient
“I think it is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. There are so many times that I would have found it helpful – with patients and even friends who have been confronted with tough decisions and often ducked them!”
– General Practitioner
Get in Touch
Feel free to get in touch if you have any further questions or queries about Coping with Crisis
COPING WITH CRISIS 