Compassionate communities: Caring for older people towards the end of life

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter commences with some preliminary comments about the different meanings of the phrase 'public health' taking care to explain the particular sense in which the current chapter falls. I then introduce the main concepts of compassionate communities as they have developed from a 'new' public health approach to end of life care. This is followed by an outline how these ideas have come to us from WHO's healthy cities programs. A summary of current academic literature that describe the rise of compassionate community practice experiments and policies in England, Scotland, Ireland and Asia follows. Three case studies are then described. Two case studies are selected from the UK experience and another case study from the Japanese experience of dementia-friendly community experiments. The conclusion provides a reflection on the future policy and practice challenges that this approach faces in the significant task of its widespread implementation
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPalliative Care for Older People
Subtitle of host publicationA Public Health Perspective
EditorsLieve Van den Block, Gwenda Albers, Sandra Martins Periera, Bregje Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Roeline Pasman, Luc Deliens
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherOxford University Press
Chapter18
Pages193-199
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9780191787133
ISBN (Print)9780198717614
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2015

Keywords

  • community development
  • health promotion
  • compassion
  • new public health
  • healthy cities
  • dementia-friendly communities
  • participatory practices

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