Love in the Time of Chronic Illness

Barbara Kivowitz, MSW, is a psychotherapist and health care consultant. She has worked with Stanford Health Care and Medical School, UCSF Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and other health care organizations, and their patients and family caregivers, to help them understand the benefits of a “relationship-focused” model of care. She is a frequent speaker at clinical and patient/caregiver conferences. She has direct experience helping couples and families living with illness through her work as a therapist and an advisor to a hospice. In addition, she has authored several articles on couples and illness, and on living with pain, one of which was published in Women’s Day and another in the journal of the American Pain Foundation. Her blog about couples and illness has been nominated for best literary and best patient blog. She served on the board of trustees of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. She has graduate degrees from Harvard University and Simmons School of Social Work..Roanne Weisman is an award-winning medical/science author of seven trade health books published by McGraw-Hill and Harvard Medical School, as well as Health Communications, Inc. Her co-authors include faculty of Harvard Medical School and leading academic medical centers. Her feature stories have appeared in magazines including Prevention, Country Living, Alternative Medicine, and Body and Soul, as well as magazines of Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, both teaching institutions of Harvard Medical School. She also writes regularly for online health education sites. She is the principal of the Write Way to Health, which provides communications consulting and editorial services to large organizations.

Highly Recommended by the Consumer and Patient Health Information Section of the Medical Library Association"...serves an an excellent reference to people who find they have to deal with the acute or chronic illness of one of the partners in a marriage or other close relationship."—Paul Levy, Not Running a Hospital"Patients, families, and effective practitioners know that disrupted social, family, and spousal relationships are at the core of the experience of illness. Recovery cannot occur without healing these relationships. This practical guide helps couples and providers of patient-centered care place patients and their loved ones at the center of a successful healing process."—Daniel B. Carr, MD, Director of Tufts Program on Pain Research, Education and Policy"Using stories of real couples, the authors take the reader on a moving and inspirational journey, exploring the trials and triumphs that couples face when disaster strikes. There are no easy answers and the authors do not sugarcoat the harsh realities, yet their ultimate message is one of hope. Thought-provoking and artfully crafted, this book addresses an oft-neglected reality of our lives."—Ayis Antoniou, Administrative Director of The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University"This book deconstructs the profound effect that illness has on a relationship, and uses stories and personal sagas that allow the reader to identify with the experience. It offers ideas and illustrations to help couples in finding resilience within their relationships. The book is both holding and empowering."—Carolyn Bernstein, MD, Clinical Director, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians Comprehensive Headache Center"The transcendent power of well-told stories cannot be overstated and the authors have been masterful. Well-written, eminently readable, and thorough, Love in the Time of Chronic Illness is an excellent resource for all who care about those who are in crisis."—Rev. Ron Burns, Pastor, Tri-City Presbyterian Church, Myrtle Creek, OR"Love in the Time of Chronic Illness explores the intersection of illness and relationships. The expert advice and compelling stories that the authors share provide insightful and important perspectives on how couples cope when their lives enter the challenging new terrain of illness."—Marjorie U. Sokoll, Director of Jewish Healing Connections, Jewish Family & Children's Service of Greater Boston