Medical Illness And Positive Life Change

Because medical illness has been one of the primary contexts in which researchers have studied the phenomenon of positive life change, this book focuses on how positive life change might be fostered in the context of medical illness.

Given the current climate of economic and environmental uncertainty, it is all too easy for individuals to feel hopeless about their lives and indifferent to the problems of others. But according to leading psychologist, James Garbarino, this is the peak time for people to enhance their optimism, empathy, and emotional responsiveness. In his important new book, The Positive Psychology of Personal Transformation, Dr. Garbarino reveals the social basis for moral development in adversity, and the mental and physical benefits of psychological and spiritual growth. Drawing widely on his years as a healing professional and own experience of personal crisis as well as on decades of resilience and happiness literature, the author traces the evolution of the moral sense that affects all human relationships, including the one with the Earth itself. In these compelling pages, Dr. Garbarino: Examines how humans’ deep bonds with dogs can model positive human relationships. Compares the risks and benefits of the “oblivious” versus the self-aware life. Analyzes the role of trauma in heightening our sense of the meaning of life and defines the experience of transformational grace in adversity. Explains current manifestations of narcissism and the need for “the positive death of the self.” Asserts that every person is capable of “living an ‘extraordinary’ life.” A book with vast significance across the healing disciplines, The Positive Psychology of Personal Transformation should be read, savored, and practiced by researchers, practitioners, and scientists in clinical child, school, and developmental psychology; social work; educational and community psychology; sociology; and public health.

Many Americans believe that people who lack health insurance somehow get the care they really need. Care Without Coverage examines the real consequences for adults who lack health insurance. The study presents findings in the areas of prevention and screening, cancer, chronic illness, hospital-based care, and general health status. The committee looked at the consequences of being uninsured for people suffering from cancer, diabetes, HIV infection and AIDS, heart and kidney disease, mental illness, traumatic injuries, and heart attacks. It focused on the roughly 30 million-one in seven-working-age Americans without health insurance. This group does not include the population over 65 that is covered by Medicare or the nearly 10 million children who are uninsured in this country. The main findings of the report are that working-age Americans without health insurance are more likely to receive too little medical care and receive it too late; be sicker and die sooner; and receive poorer care when they are in the hospital, even for acute situations like a motor vehicle crash.

Few publications have changed the landscape of contemporary psychology more than Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman's landmark work, Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. Its publication in 1984 set the course for years of research on the dynamic processes of psychological stress and coping in human beings. Now more than a quarter-century later, The Oxford Handbook of Stress, Health, and Coping pushes the field even further with a comprehensive overview of the newest and best work in this dynamic subject. Edited by Susan Folkman and comprising chapters by the field's leading scientists, this new volume details the expanded knowledge base that has emerged from extensive research on stress and coping processes over the last several decades. Featuring 22 topic-based chapters -- including two by Folkman -- this volume offers unprecedented coverage of the two primary research topics related to stress and coping: mitigating stress-related harms and sustaining well-being in the face of stress. Both topics are addressed within their relevant contexts, including chronic illness, calamity, bereavement, and social hardship. The Oxford Handbook of Stress, Health, and Coping is an essential reference work for students, practitioners, and researchers across the fields of health psychology, medicine, and palliative care.

In response to a request by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), the Institute of Medicine proposed a study to examine definitions of serious or complex medical conditions and related issues. A seven-member committee was appointed to address these issues. Throughout the course of this study, the committee has been aware of the fact that the topic addressed by this report concerns one of the most critical issues confronting HCFA, health care plans and providers, and patients today. The Medicare+Choice regulations focus on the most vulnerable populations in need of medical care and other services-those with serious or complex medical conditions. Caring for these highly vulnerable populations poses a number of challenges. The committee believes, however, that the current state of clinical and research literature does not adequately address all of the challenges and issues relevant to the identification and care of these patients.

The challenge of transforming organizational culture is at the heart of many key movements in contemporary healthcare, and understanding culture change has become a core leadership competency. However, much current practice is based on antiquated and psychologically unsophisticated theories, leaving leaders inadequately prepared for the complex task of implementing change. Leading Change in Healthcare presents relationship-centered administration, an effective new evidence-based alternative to traditional culture change methodologies. It integrates fresh insights and methods from complexity science, positive psychology and relationship-centered care, enabling a more spontaneous and reflective approach to change management. This fosters greater organizational awareness and real participation, as well as improved productivity and creativity, as well as staff recruitment and retention. Case studies drawn from primary care, hospitals, long-term care, professional education, international NGOs and other settings, rather than emphasizing the end results, are demonstrations of how to apply relationship-centered administration in everyday practice. Leading Change in Healthcare is a key resource for all practitioners, students and teachers of healthcare management, medical educators, and leaders in all areas of healthcare provision. 'We need a new way of seeing, a new way of leading - and the authors provide a clear guide and resources for the path ahead. Leading Change in Healthcare offers hope - and a method. A daily dose is just what the change doctor ordered.' from the Foreword by Carol Aschenbrener

In August, 1985, the 2nd International Conference on Illness Behaviour was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The first International Conference took place one year previous in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. This book is based on the proceedings of the second conference. The purpose behind this conference was to facilitate the development of a single integrated model to account for illness experience and presentation. A major focus of the conference was to outline methodological issues related to current behaviour research. A multidiscipl~nary approach was emphasized because of the bias that collaborative efforts are likely to be the most successful in achieving greater understanding of illness behaviour. Significant advances in our knowledge are occurring in all areas of the biological and social sciences, albeit more slowly in the latter areas. Marked specialization in each of these areas has lead to greater difficulty in integrating new knowledge with that of other areas and the development of a meaningful cohesive model to which all can relate. Thus there is a major need for forums such as that provided by this conference.

In the fall of 1995, Dr. Saray Stancic was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. By 2003, she walked regularly with a cane, had given up virtually all unnecessary physical activity, and was on numerous medications, all with horrible side effects.After stumbling upon some studies that linked MS outcomes to diet and lifestyle, Dr. Stancic undertook a radically different approach to managing her illness. Within a relatively short time period she was off all MS medications, walking normally, resumed dancing, and in 2010 she ran a marathon!Today she lives an active, symptom free life, and takes no medications for multiple sclerosis.Now, in What’s Missing from Medicine: Six Lifestyle Changes to Overcome Chronic Illness, Dr. Stancic shares her own inspiring story and explains the incredible power that specific lifestyle changes can have for those living with chronic illness. Her prescription to prevent, treat, and even reverse chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases like lupus, multiple sclerosis, and many others, is what readers will find in this book.Dr. Stancic is also highly critical of the medical community’s lack of success when it comes to treating chronic illness, and that’s why What’s Missing from Medicine is both a prescription for a better life for each of us, as well as a clarion call for the medical establishment to make these lifestyle changes an integral part of the practice of medicine.