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| About the book |
As palliative care develops across many of the countries of Europe, we find that it continues to raise important ethical challenges. Palliative care practice requires ethical sensitivity and understanding. At the same time the very existence of palliative care calls for ethical explanation. Ethics and palliative care meet over some vital issues: 'the good death', sedation at the end of life, requests for euthanasia, futile treatment, and the role of research. Yet palliative care appears uncertain about its goals and there is evidence that its ethical underpinnings are changing. Likewise, the moral problems of palliative care are only partly served by the four 'principles' of modern bioethics. This innovative book, with contributions by clinicians, ethicists, philosophers and social scientists, provides the first ever picture of palliative care ethics in the European context. It will be of interest to those involved in the delivery and management of palliative care services, as well as to students and researchers. |
| About the authors |
David Clark is Professor of Medical Sociology within the Palliative Medicine Academic Unit of the University of Sheffield. He has written widely on the sociology of religion, family life and end of life care. He has been involved in research and teaching in palliative care since 1989. His current interests include the history of hospice, palliative care and related fields; policy development and international issues in the growth of palliative care; and palliative care ethics. He is the editor of the Facing Death Series for Open University Press. |
| Table of contents |
Series editor's preface Introduction the work of the Pallium Project Part one: Concepts and models of care Introduction to Part one Palliative care and the historical background Palliative care developments in seven European countries Conceptual tensions in European palliative care Part two: Moral Values Introduction to Part two Moral values in palliative care a European comparison From conviction to responsibility in palliative care ethics Good death or good life as a goal of palliative care Palliative care a relational approach Part three: Ethics and Palliative Care Practice Introduction to Part three Respect for autonomy and palliative care Sedation in palliative care facts and concepts Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide Research ethics and palliative care Futility, limits and palliative care Conclusion References Index. |
