Taking as its focus a highly emotive area of study, The Dying Process draws on the experiences of daycare and hospice patients to provide a forceful new analysis of the period of decline prior to death.

Placing the bodily realities of dying very firmly centre stage and questioning the ideology central to the modern hospice movement of enabling patients to 'live until they die', Julia Lawton shows how our concept of a 'good death' is open to interpretation. Her study examines the non-negotiable effects of a patient's bodily deterioration on their sense of self and, in so doing, offers a powerful new perspective in embodiment and emotion in death and dying.

A detailed and subtle ethnographic study, The Dying Process engages with a range of deeply complex and ethically contentious issues surrounding the care of dying patients in hospices and elsewhere.

Reviews

'Although not exactly a comfortable or easy read fopr anyone working in palliative care, this book is a fundamentlly important study of what happens when patients die, especially in hospices. It should become essential reading for anyone with an interest in the care of the dying.' - Paul Keeley, The Lancet

'Although not exactly a comfortable or easy read for anyone working in palliative care, this book is a fundamentally important study of what happens when patients die, especially in hospices. It should become essential reading for anyone with an interest in the care of the dying.'- The Lancet

Book Information
ISBN 9780415226790
Author Julia Lawton
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 540g