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Asking the Right Questions to get the Health Care You Need

by James Cappleman LCSW

98 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #07-2293; ISBN 1-4251-5223-6; US$12.95, C$12.95, EUR8.85, £6.69

If you have ever seen your doctor and left with more questions than answers, then this is the book for you. It's great for loved ones as well.

About the Book

Families experiencing the stress of a chronic or serious illness typically find themselves forced to make many life-altering decisions, and often with little time to contemplate the best course of action. This book serves as a practical guide to help what all of us will one day experience when we find ourselves sorting through the complex maze of obtaining good health care. Unlike other books written by doctors, nurses, and chaplains, this book comes from the perspective of a social worker who knows first hand the struggles families experience with obtaining the right information so that good decisions can be made.

Written with the idea in mind that the reader may be experiencing an exorbitant amount of stress, the book is laid out in direct, straightforward, and easy language to help with the following:

• good communication with the health care team
• establishment of goals for care and getting everyone on board
• the different ways to ensure you're heard when you can't speak for yourself
• what to do (and not to do) during a hospitalization
• the secrets to selecting a good nursing home
• what to do when someone refuses to go to a nursinghome
• choices available when a situation becomes terminal
• how to help prevent a financial crisis during a health crisis
• ways to get needed medications when you can't afford it

This is a book that all of us will need someday if not now.

About the Author

James Cappleman is a licensed clinical social worker who has worked with thousands of families experiencing a serious or chronic illness of a loved one. He came up with the idea of writing this book when he kept hearing from families over and over again that they didn't know what questions to ask their doctor when they were just told some unexpected news. On many occasions, he witnessed people struggling with choices because they didn't have the right information to guide them along.

Very little has been written from the perspective of a social worker, but it is from this perspective that many families need help so that they can make the right choices about medical decisions, hospital care, nursing homes, rehabilitation, advanced directives, and affording needed medications.

Mr. Cappleman remains both a health care activist and a community activist in his neighborhood of Uptown, located in Chicago, IL. His work at the University of Chicago Medical Center also includes the training of doctors and nurses in the role of family-centered care.