Intensive Caring: A Practical Handbook for Catholics about Serious Illness and End-of-Life Care

When a serious illness or a health crisis occurs, few people are prepared to deal with it, and when faced with big medical decisions, patients often are confused and overwhelmed, and they are sometimes too sick to make important decisions. Many times, decisions fall to family and loved ones who don’t always know the patient’s wishes. Intensive Caring: A Practical Handbook for Catholics about Serious Illness and End-of-Life Care is the perfect resource to help everyone involved navigate the complexities of healthcare during serious illness and end-of-life care.

In Intensive Caring, Dr. Natalie King, a palliative care physician, shares real-life patient stories and provides practical medical information to bring clarity and understanding to these complex healthcare decisions. In this easy-to-navigate guide, King helps you and your loved ones think through the issues at hand and align your decisions with your values and faith while safeguarding the sacred dignity of human life.

By clearly explaining Catholic beliefs and guidelines and debunking common misconceptions about healthcare, King addresses the most common questions she receives as a medical professional, such as these:

• What is palliative care, and how is it different from hospice?
• If I am diagnosed with a serious illness, what kinds of questions should I ask my doctor?
• How do I approach thinking about which healthcare options are best for me, and how do I communicate my preferences to my family?
• What are advance directives, why do they matter, and what is important to include as a Catholic?
• What is a “DNR,” and how should I understand and choose my options around resuscitation?
• What does the Catholic Church say about artificial nutrition and hydration?
• How do I advocate for my loved one’s dignity nearing the end of their life?

King also outlines what she sees as the characteristics of a good death, offers tips on advocating for your needs and values, provides spiritual encouragement, and includes prayers for patients, parish communities, and caregivers.

Most especially, King encourages you to have these healthcare conversations now, when you are healthy. Now is the time to communicate your preferences and desires to your loved ones. This will ease the stress, guilt, and worry when faced with end-of-life issues for you and your family.

Intensive Caring extends beyond the realm of Catholic laity, encompassing clergy, pastoral workers, and healthcare professionals seeking deeper insight into the application of Catholic belief and practice to intricate medical dilemmas. It equips them to effectively navigate such complexities and offer compassionate guidance to those under their care.

Natalie King, MD, is a palliative medicine physician who cares for patients with serious illness and those nearing the end of life. King writes and speaks nationally educating about and advocating for the expansion of palliative medicine as the surest way to safeguard human dignity in serious illness and end-of-life care.

After finishing her medical training, King worked as a palliative medicine physician for several years at a hospital in Colorado where she led the hospital's ethics committee and helped teach trainees. She partnered with the USCCB to improve education for Catholic laity about palliative care and organized a forum for the Catholic Medical Association on end-of-life issues.

King holds a bachelor of arts in anthropology and pre-professional studies from the University of Notre Dame, a master of arts in bioethics from the Ohio State University College of Medicine, and a doctor of medicine from Tulane University School of Medicine.

She lives with her family in Utah.