WHEN THE TIME COMES: STORIES FROM THE END OF LIFE

IN CONVERSATION WITH PROF. ALEX BARRATT

What do we want for ourselves and our loved ones, ‘when the time comes’? Jointly written, collected and curated by a doctor and nurse working in end-of-life care, this collection of personal experiences (of families and healthcare professionals) throws light on social, cultural and individual influences on what is expected but not necessarily wanted and when we need to start asking ourselves and our loved ones – and our patients – about their preferences.

In particular, the issue of futile over-treatment getting in the way of peaceful opportunities to be with friends and family and say good-bye arises again and again. Far more universal and pressing than ‘the right to die’ is the right to have a non-medicalised and not over-extended, good quality end-of-life.

This book is a call to normalise these sensitive conversations about dying of natural causes with dignity. It’s relevant reading for people with elder parents or grandparents, those who are helping care for a loved one with advanced chronic illness, and for health professionals and medical or nursing students who will be helping normalise end-of-life discussions later in their careers.