Includes bibliographic references and index.

Series editor's preface -- Foreword / June R. Lunney -- About the editors and authors -- Introduction / Dean Blevins and James L. Werth, Jr. -- Section I : personal stories -- Adolescent end-of-life decision making : family-centred advance care planning / Richard and MAureen E. Lyon -- The grip of pain / Jonathon D. Spannhake -- Decision making in the absence of advance directives : a personal story of letting go / Laura Crow -- A hastened death / Nicola G. Raye -- Section II : overview of major issues -- How people die in the United States / Marilyn J. Field -- The media and end-of-life choices and decisions / Marilyn Webb -- Three female faces : the law of end-of-life decision making in America / Kathy L. Cerminara -- End-of-life choices / Phillip M. Kleespies, Pamela J. Miller and Thomas A. Preston -- Section III : aspects of end-of-life choices and decision making -- Decision making in pallative care / Victor T. Chang and Nethra Sambamoorthi -- Communication related to end-of-life care and decisions / Ellen L. Csikai -- Dying in institutions / Suzanne S. Prevost and J. Brandon Wallace -- What would Terri want? Advance directives and the pyschological challenges of surrogate decision making / Peter H. Ditto -- Section IV : psychological considerations -- The possible impact of mental health issues on end-of-life decsion making / James L. Werth, Jr. -- Family end-of-life decision making / Sharla Wells-Di Gregorio -- Religious and spiritual perspectives on life-threatening illness, dying and death / Kenneth J. Doka -- Culture, individual diversity and end-of-life decisions / Bert Hayslip, Jr., Robert O. Hansson, Jon D. Starkweather and Diana C. Dolan -- Decisions by and for adults with questionable mental capacity : focus on dementia / Ladislav Volicer -- Pediatric patient-orientated problem solving near the end of life / Chris Feudtner and Anne E. Kazak -- Index.