Unit 16 Palliative Care and Hospice Care

Hospice Care

Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient’s pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life.

The word “hospice” derives from Latin hospitum, meaning hospitality or place of rest and protection for the ill and weary. In Western society, the concept of hospice began evolving in Europe in the 11th century. In Roman Catholic tradition, hospices were places of hospitality for the sick, wounded, or dying, as well as for travelers and pilgrims. The modern hospice concept includes palliative care for the incurably ill in institutions as hospitals and nursing homes, along with at-home care.

The goal of hospice care is to prioritize comfort, quality of life and individual wishes by reducing pain and suffering. How comfort is defined is up to each individual or, if the patient is incapacitated, the patient’s family. This can include addressing physical, emotional, spiritual and/or social needs.

In hospice care, patient-directed goals are integral and interwoven throughout the care.  Hospices typically do not perform treatments that are meant to diagnose or cure an illness but also do not include treatments that hasten death.  Instead, hospices focus on palliative care to relieve pain and symptoms.

Hospice care includes assistance for patients’ families to help them cope with what is happening and provide care and support to keep the patient at home.