Hospice provides support and care for persons in the last phases
of incurable disease so that they may live as fully and as comfortably
as possible. Hospice recognizes dying as part of the normal process
of living and focuses on maintaining the quality of remaining life.
Hospice affirms
life and neither hastens nor postpones death. Hospice exists in
the hope and belief that through appropriate care, and the
promotion of a caring community sensitive to their
needs, patients and their families may be free to attain a degree
of mental and spiritual
preparation for death that is satisfactory to them.
Hospice offers palliative care to terminally ill people and their
families without
regard for age, gender, nationality, race, creed,
sexual orientation, disability, diagnosis, availability of a primary
caregiver, or ability
to pay.
A hospice program
provides palliative care to terminally ill patients, and supportive
services to patients,
their families, and significant others, available
for emergencies
24 hours a day 7
days a week, in both home and facility-based
settings. Physical, social, spiritual, and
emotional care is provided during
the last stages of
illness, during the dying process, and during
bereavement by a medically-directed interdisciplinary
team consisting of patients/families,
professionals,
and volunteers.
Palliative care
is defined as treatment that enhances comfort, and improves the
quality
of the patient’s life. No
specific therapy is excluded form consideration.
The test of palliative treatment lies in the agreement by
the patient, the physician, the
primary caregiver, and the hospice team that
the expected outcome is relief from distressing symptoms,
easing of pain, and enhancement
of quality of life. The decision to intervene
with an active palliative treatment is based on the treatment’s
ability to meet the stated goals rather than its effect
on the underlying disease. Each patient’s
needs must continue to be assessed and all
treatment options explored and evaluated in the context
of the patient ’s
values and symptoms. |
