The goal of hospice care is to enable patients to live an alert, pain-free life and to manage symptoms so the last weeks and months of life may be spent in dignity and peace. One out of every three people who die of cancer or AIDS in this country are served by a hospice program. Rapid growth of hospice programs is due to increased demand for home care services, the desire of terminally ill persons to keep control over the remainder of their lives, and a trend towards reimbursement for home-care services. Consumers need to be aware of specific characteristics that differentiate hospice from other health care providers. Hospice offers comfort and care, not curative treatment.
Hospice addresses emotional, spiritual, and social needs in addition to physical needs.
Hospice considers the patient and loved ones as the unit of care. Hospice affirms life and regards dying as a normal process, seeking neither to hasten nor postpone death. Hospice care extends beyond a patient's death to include bereavement care for grieving family members. Fear of painful suffering, of abandonment, and of losing control are primary concerns of people experiencing terminal illness. Hospice care is designed to address these concerns by providing support, care, and needed services to help the terminally ill live their lives in maximal comfort and control.