The essential guide for every patient and family

The doctor's office called. It's not good news. What comes next? When you are diagnosed with a life-changing illness, it can be overwhelming. While your diagnosis cannot be changed, the way you experience your illness can.

In Hope for the Best, Plan for the Rest, Dr. Seow and Dr. Winemaker have combined their decades of palliative care research and experience in caring for seriously ill patients. They have harnessed the advice of thousands of patients to create a roadmap that every patient and family will benefit from. In it, they share the 7 keys to unlock a better illness experience and reveal stories, tips and exercises to improve your journey right from diagnosis. These two compassionate experts empower you with practical tools to take charge of your life-changing diagnosis and navigate the health care system with confidence, knowledge, and calm.

This book is about hope in the face of uncertainty. It's about how to live well, be fully informed, and be activated. How to feel more like a person, not a patient. But most of all, how to be hopeful and prepared at every step along the way.

Sammy and Hsien have spent their careers helping those who are facing a life-changing illness. For years, they often heard patients and families say they felt unprepared and overwhelmed. Despite spending years on education, research, and advocacy, they continued to hear patients and families say "Why didn't anyone tell me that sooner?"

Ultimately they realized they needed to show patients and families how to become activated so they could have more choice and control about their care. Through interviews with experts, clinicians, patients and caregivers, they are harnessing the advice of those with lived experience to better prepare those who are just starting their health care journey.

But they cannot do it alone. They are building a community called the Waiting Room Revolution to improve the illness experience. Together with patients, families, and communities, they are transforming the patient journey and bringing the humanity back into health care.

Samantha Winemaker, MD, is a palliative care physician who cares for patients with serious illness and their families in the home. She is an Associate Clinical Professor at McMaster University in the Department of Family Medicine, Division of Palliative Care. She has won numerous awards for her leadership and palliative care education for health care professionals.

Hsien Seow, PhD, is the Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care and Health System Innovation and an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology, McMaster University. He publishes health care research focused on improving the patient and family experience for those facing serious illness. He is the co-author of The Tao of Innovation: 9 Questions Every Innovator Must Answer.