Crossing Over provides a unique view of patients, families, and their
caregivers in the face of incurable illness. Twenty richly-detailed
narratives bring vividly to life the experiences of dying and
bereavement, weaving together emotions, physical symptoms, spiritual
concerns, and the stresses of family life, as well as the professional
and personal challenges of providing hospice and palliative care.
Drawing on a variety of qualitative research methods, including
participant-observation, interviews, and journal keeping, the narratives
depict the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of daily life in patients'
homes and in the palliative care unit. Crossing Over moves far beyond
conventional case reports in medicine, which typically concentrate
narrowly on symptoms and treatments, and beyond clichés about "dying
with dignity." It provides intimate views of the anger and fear,
tenderness and reconciliation, jealousy and love, unexpected courage and
unshakable faith, social
support and "falling through the cracks," which are all part of facing
death in North American society. It provides an extraordinary portrait
of the processes of giving and receiving hospice and palliative care in
the real world, as opposed to idealized versions in many textbooks.
This edition of Crossing Over has been thoroughly revised and updated
to reflect changes in hospice and palliative care and in North American
society since the first edition in 2000. Chief among these are the
expansion of hospice and palliative care as a field, the ravages of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the wider availability of medical aid in dying, and a
heightened awareness of how structural racism, classism, and other forms
of discrimination shape individuals' and families' experiences right up
to the close of life.
