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Library news & updates

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Thérèse Brady Library News

Vol 1 Is3 – March/April 2010

Bereavement bibliotherapy booklet updateThe library launched a bereavement bibliotherapy booklet on March 9th with an open evening attended by librarians and members of the bereavement support community. Maria Costello spoke about her work as Bereavement Care Liaison officer in the midlands and the benefits of supportive reading material for the recently bereaved was highlighted. Copies of the bibliotherapy booklet have been distributed to hospital and public libraries, hospices and bereavement groups around the country with the aim of highlighting the Therese Brady library’s public loan service and to provide a ready reference of useful titles and resources for bereaved people and those who support them. Due to the overwhelming demand for the booklet print copies are no longer available, however an electronic copy can be downloaded HERE.

Pictures of the launch evening can be seen on the Hospice Foundation’s Flickr page. A short feature on the bereavement bibliotherapy booklet and the services of the Therese Brady library appears in the April edition of Irish Library News , the newsletter of the Library Council of Ireland.

Library training sessionsA reminder to all that library training sessions take place on the last Monday of each month. The last session; ‘an introduction to Web 2.0’ covered blogs, Twitter and social media integration. The next session will take place on May 31st and will look at using the internet for research. Anyone who missed the last session and would like a repeat email laura.rooneyferris@hospice-foundation.ie to schadule a session

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Resource UpdatesThérèse Brady Library News –Vol. 1 Is. 3 March/April 2010

Resource

news, trials

and updates

Conferences and dates for May May 19th – End-of-life care; from the margins to the mainstream

This multidisciplinary conference addressing end-of-life issues organised by Hospice Friendly Hospitals takes place in Clontarf Castle and includes the launch of the new ‘Quality Standards for End-of-life care in Hospitals’. Full programme and further details are available HERE

May 19th - End of Life Communication and Care after DeathOur lady’s Hospice – further details available at www.olh.ie

May 21st – A comfortable death? The doctors dilemma Draycott (Nursing) Education Centre, 100 Sydney Street, London

Last chance Trial access to Social Science Index and Health Business Full text has been extended until May 10th. Please make sure you take advantage of the additional trial access to these databases and their extensive range of full text coverage. Access on site is automatic via IP recognition and password details for off site access are available from the library. Assistence in navigating the search interface is also available from the library. As always feedback on trial resources is encouraged.

Grief Matters: Now available via ADEC The library’s ADEC subscription now includes access to ‘Grief Matters: The Australian Journal of Grief and Bereavement’. PDF full text coverage is available back to its first issue in 1998. Login through the members only section at www.adec.org username and password details are available from the library.

Library DVD & Video collection

Don’t forget that in addition to the obvious (books and journals), the library also houses a video and DVD collection. Video and DVD titles can be browsed on the library catalogue by selecting ‘video’ or ‘DVD’ in the media field. Titles include educational and training material as well as an increasing collection of films with death, illness or bereavement as central themes. Some recent DVD acquisitions include;

The Seventh Seal (see review on page 4) Ordinary People In America Moonlight Mile The Bucket List

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Reviews

An overview of selected articles and publications in bereavement palliative care, hospice and end of life care research -All featured articles are available on request from the Therese Brady

Article overviews Thérèse Brady Library News - Vol. 1 Is. 3 March/April 2010

Bereavememt------------------------------

Block et al in the March issue of Journal of pain and symptom management examine the benefit of hospice volunteers on bereaved families. Their article, ‘Got Volunteers? Association of Hospice Use of Volunteers With Bereaved Family Members' Overall Rating of the Quality of End-of-Life Care’ indicated a higher perception of quality from bereaved families for hospices employing bereavement volunteers.

Hospice volunteers were also the focus of an article in the March volume of American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care. Claxton-Oldfield and Banzen’s article ‘Personality characteristics of hospice palliative care volunteers; the ‘big five’ and empathy’ measured hospice volunteer’s personality characteristics against empathy indicators.

In ‘Parenting after the death of a spouse’ the issue of spousal bereavement is addressed in relation to its impact on parenting and family dynamics. Glazer et al’s article in the April volume of the American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care examines six individuals following the loss of a spouse identifying five key themes as emerging in the post bereavement parental role.

Hospice & palliative careMarch saw the establishment of the first Italian national palliative care service implemented following approval by the Italian parliament. Closer to home the launch on March 24th of the National policy ‘ Palliative Care For Children With Life-Limiting Conditions In Ireland’ placed emphasis on the palliative care needs of paediatric patients. The March issue of Archives of pediatrics and adolescent medicine features an article by Zelcer et al ‘Palliative care of children with brain tumors: a parental perspective’ which takes the viewpoint of parents whose children are nearing the end-of-life and addresses specific demands placed on palliative care teams in providing support for both children and their families in the final stages of their illness. ---------------------------------------

End-of-Life IssuesAdvance care directives and the difficulty of making end-of-life care decisions for incapacitated loved ones was addressed in Silviera et al’s article ‘Advance Directives and Outcomes of Surrogate Decision Making before Death’ from the April 1st edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. It indicates that patients at end-of-life are most likely to require assistance with decision making, indicating the benefit of advance care

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Thérèse Brady Library News -Vol. 1 Is. 3 March/April 2010

Compiled by; Laura Rooney Ferris

Information & Library Manager

Thérèse Brady Library

Irish Hospice Foundation

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Review – DVD

‘The seventh seal’

By; Ingmar Bergman (1957)"When he broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven…” with this line from Revelations (Rev 8:1)Ingmar Bergman begins his classic rumination on mortality and death. This foreboding opening coupled with stark imagery from the outset might act as a ‘turn back now’ sign for anyone looking for something to relax with over a glass of wine and some popcorn.

‘The Seventh Seal’ follows Knight Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) and his squire Jons on their return from the crusades to a plague infested Sweden. The film takes the form of medieval allegory with Block confronted on his return by the personification of Death himself. In a scene familiar from numerous parodies (it is referenced in Woody Allen’s ‘Love & Death’, ‘Bill & Teds Bogus journey’ and even ‘Family Guy’) Death challenges Block to a game of chess, the outcome of which is a fait accompli; Death has come for Block.

In Antonius Block we have the archetypal existential protagonist. As he moves across the Swedish countryside towards his home, the wife he left behind ten years ago and ultimately his final date with death he struggles to take meaning from his life, the decisions he has made and he wrestles with his faith. Confronted with his imminent death Block implores God’s intervention and scorns his elusiveness in equal measure. The films overt questioning of the place of God in a world of suffering and impending death earned it a place on the Vatican film list. Despite its cerebral themes and reputation as an ‘art film’ this is not a film which should be reserved exclusively for the cinephile. Blocks fear in the face of death, his quest to extract meaning from his life and ultimately the sense that his life’s meaning is gained only in simple acts of kindness (the meal he shares with the family of travelling actors) and small gestures of sacrifice which give ‘The seventh seal’ universal appeal and certainly place it firmly on the list of films to watch before you die.

Palliative care for all ----------------------------------------- End stage renal failure patients’ and their symptom burden are examined in Sara Davison’s article ‘Impact of Pain and Symptom Burden on the Health-Related Quality of Life of Hemodialysis Patients’ in the March issue (Vol 39 Is 3) of Journal of pain and symptom management. This issue also features an article by Gysels et al entitled ‘The Experience of Breathlessness: The Social Course of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease’ This article examines the treatment of breathlessness in end of life care for COPD patients outlining the increasing extension of palliative care to COPD patients and arguing that COPD patients may not require a specific adapted model for palliative care.