The Lost Art of Caring: A Challenge to Health Professionals, Families, Communities, and Society

by Leighton E. Cluff MD (Editor), Robert H. Binstock PhD (Editor)

Overview

In The Lost Art of Caring, Leighton E. Cluff, M.D., and Robert H. Binstock, Ph.D., bring together experts to address the importance of caring, the reasons why it has eroded, and measures that can strengthen caring as provided by health professionals, families, communities, and society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801865916
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	06/15/2001
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.93(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Leighton E. Cluff, M.D., is a professor emeritus at the University of Florida College of Medicine and former president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Robert H. Binstock (1935–2011) was, at the time of his death, a professor of aging, health, and society at Case Western Reserve University, where he taught in the public health program and also in the departments of medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics, bioethics, and in the School of Nursing and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Table of Contents

Part I. Caring and the Populations in Need of It
Chapter 1. Our Need for Caring: Vulnerability and Illness
Chapter 2. Who Needs Caring?
Chapter 3. Caring and Mental Illness
Part II. The Provision of Caring
Chapter 4. A History of Caring in Medicine
Chapter 5. Forces Affecting Caring by Physicians
Chapter 6. Caring and Medical Education
Chapter 7. Caring in Institutional Settings
Chapter 8.Home and Community-Based Care: Toward a Caring Paradigm
Chapter 9. Caring and Community-Based Voluntary Organizations
Part III. Assessments of Caring
Chapter 10. Appraising the Success of Caring
Chapter 11. The Politics of Caring

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

This book provides a great service by drawing attention to the vital role of caring in health care and caregiving. As it makes clear, caring—the concern, compassion, and support of health professionals, family members, and communities—is of great importance to those who are coping with illness or disability and are in pain and suffering. I strongly commend The Lost Art of Caring as essential reading. This book highlights the challenges to be met if we are to rekindle caring as an essential part of our culture. After all, at one time or another in our lives, we will all need caring.
—From the foreword by Rosalynn Carter

Rosalynn Carter

This book provides a great service by drawing attention to the vital role of caring in health care and caregiving. As it makes clear, caring -- the concern, compassion, and support of health professionals, family members, and communities -- is of great importance to those who are coping with illness or disability and are in pain and suffering. I strongly commend The Lost Art of Caring as essential reading. This book highlights the challenges to be met if we are to rekindle caring as an essential part of our culture. After all, at one time or another in our lives, we will all need caring.

From the foreword by Rosalynn Carter

This book provides a great service by drawing attention to the vital role of caring in health care and caregiving. As it makes clear, caring—the concern, compassion, and support of health professionals, family members, and communities—is of great importance to those who are coping with illness or disability and are in pain and suffering. I strongly commend The Lost Art of Caring as essential reading. This book highlights the challenges to be met if we are to rekindle caring as an essential part of our culture. After all, at one time or another in our lives, we will all need caring.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: John L Shuster, MD (University of Alabama)
Description: This is a compilation of writings on caring, defined as the "focus on the humane and palliative aspects of health care that contribute to an individual's quality of life." An expert panel of contributors explores caring from a wide variety of historical, political, and contextual perspectives and discusses the connections between caring and related topics such as caregiving and healthcare.
Purpose: The purposes of the book are "to draw increased attention to the integral role of caring in health care, as well as to contemporary forces that seem to downgrade caring or make it difficult to undertake." As technological advances in healthcare move medicine toward an increasing emphasis on procedural care, this book is an important reminder about the role of caring in a healthcare system that aims to be effective and valued by society. The book meets the editors' objectives well.
Audience: The contributors are certainly credible authorities on the subject. The editors state that the intended audience includes healthcare professionals, students and administrators, policymakers, as well as laypeople (including family members and caregivers). The book is probably beyond the interest level of most laypeople, but would be accessible to an interested layperson and is certainly appropriate for others in the intended audience.
Features: The book covers the concept of caring in fine and helpful detail. The historical and political roots of caring are discussed, as is the coverage of caring in medical education. Chapters are devoted to caring in a variety of settings (institutional and community-based settings, community-based volunteer organizations). Caring in the mental health setting gets specific attention in one of the book's chapters as well. Each of the chapters is a concise but thorough review of one aspect of caring. The writing style results in a readable and informative book.
Assessment: This is a valuable and important contribution. This book is accessible and readable enough to serve as an excellent introduction to medical aspects of caring. It is also authoritative enough to serve as a valuable reference source for experts. The book covers an important and neglected topic. I hope it will be widely read by leaders in healthcare.

Doody's Review Service

The text is chock full of the thoughts of some of America's leading experts on the caring side of health care. This book should be read by any health care professional with an interest in this dimension of health care and is a must read for the medical community. A marvelous text.
—Joseph A. LiebermanIII, M.D.M.P.H., Journal of the American Medical Association

On the whole, this volume deepens our understanding and appreciation of the importance of caring for all who are in need of personal attention and assistance when ill and disabled. The contributors seem to have given much thought to their chapters, weaving together personal stories, clinical experiences, research findings, and proposals for change.
—Else M. Kiefer, Health Progress

A remarkable broad and well-integrated package of philosophy and fact, a valuable and compact resource for health care professionals, as well as legislators and social scientists.
—John A. Benson, Jr., M.D., Pharos

From the Publisher

On the whole, this volume deepens our understanding and appreciation of the importance of caring for all who are in need of personal attention and assistance when ill and disabled. The contributors seem to have given much thought to their chapters, weaving together personal stories, clinical experiences, research findings, and proposals for change.

— Else M. Kiefer

Health Progress

The text is chock full of the thoughts of some of America's leading experts on the caring side of health care. This book should be read by any health care professional with an interest in this dimension of health care and is a must read for the medical community. A marvelous text.

— Joseph A. LiebermanIII, M.D.M.P.H.

Journal of the American Medical Association

A remarkable broad and well-integrated package of philosophy and fact, a valuable and compact resource for health care professionals, as well as legislators and social scientists.

— John A. Benson, Jr., M.D.

Pharos

"A remarkable broad and well-integrated package of philosophy and fact, a valuable and compact resource for health care professionals, as well as legislators and social scientists."

Pharos - John A. Benson

"On the whole, this volume deepens our understanding and appreciation of the importance of caring for all who are in need of personal attention and assistance when ill and disabled. The contributors seem to have given much thought to their chapters, weaving together personal stories, clinical experiences, research findings, and proposals for change."

Health Progress - Else M. Kiefer

"The text is chock full of the thoughts of some of America's leading experts on the caring side of health care. This book should be read by any health care professional with an interest in this dimension of health care and is a must read for the medical community. A marvelous text."

Journal of the American Medical Association - Joseph A. LiebermanIII

4 Stars! from Doody

Contributors from public health, social work, medicine, and other fields explain why it is important to attend to people's spiritual and psychological as well as physical needs, and offer suggestions on how to go about it. Among the topics are vulnerability and illness, a history of caring in medicine, caring in institutional settings, and appraising the success of caring. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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