Dignity Therapy

Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov is an international leader in palliative care. He is Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and Director of the Manitoba Palliative Care Research Unit at CancerCare Manitoba. His seminal publications on psychosocial issues in advanced illness have helped define core competencies and standards of palliative end-of-life care. Dr. Chochinov has also been a guest lecturer in many major academic institutions around the world. He has been lauded for his contributions to palliative care, with awards and recognitions coming from the International Psycho-oncology Society, the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, and the American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Chapter 1: Dignity and the End of Life ; Why Study Dignity? ; Dignity and Empirical Research ; The Model of Dignity in the Terminally Ill ; Illness-Related Concerns ; - Level of Independence ; - Symptom Distress ; Dignity-Conserving Repertoire ; - Dignity-Conserving Perspectives ; - Dignity-Conserving Practices ; Social Dignity Inventory ; - Privacy Boundaries ; - Social Support ; - Care Tenor ; - Burden to Others ; - Aftermath Concerns ; References ; Chapter 2: Moving Dignity into Care ; How the Dignity Model Informs Dignity Therapy ; - Form ; - Tone ; - Content ; Dignity Therapy Revealed ; The First Clinical Trial is Published ; What about Families? ; Gold Standard Evidence ; Time to Move On ; References ; Chapter 3: Introducing Dignity Therapy to Patients and Families ; Patient Selection for Dignity Therapy ; Who Should Not Take Part in Dignity Therapy? ; Chapter 4: Doing Dignity Therapy ; Setting up the Dignity Therapy Session ; The Role of the Dignity Therapist ; References ; Chapter 5: The Generativity Document ; The Rationale for Editing Dignity Therapy Transcripts ; Transcribing the Audio-Recorded Interview ; Editing the Verbatim Transcript ; - Cleaning Up the Transcript ; - Clarifying the Transcript ; - Finding a Suitable Ending ; - The Patient Has the Final Say ; Chapter 6. From Start to Finish ; Chapter 7. Moving Forward