Hospice is a process to end-of-life care and a kind of support facility for terminally ill patients. It provides comforting care, patient-centered care and related services. Comforting care relieves discomfort without improving the patient’s condition or curing his illness. Hospice is extended in a healthcare facility or at home. Its objective is to provide compassionate, emotional, and spiritual care for the dying patient. The origin of the word “hospice” in medieval times meant “way station for weary travelers” (Perry). The first hospices were run by members of religious orders in the medieval times that cared for weary travelers whom found refuge with them until their death. Modern hospices are believed to have started in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century in Dublin, Ireland. Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity provided a clean and caring place for the terminally ill. The name hospice was first applied to the care of dying patients by Mme Jeanne Garnier who founded the Dames de Calaire in Lyon, France, in 1842. The name was next introduced by the Irish Sisters of Charity when they opened Our Lady 's Hospice in Dublin in 1879 and St Joseph 's Hospice in Hackney, London 1905.
The practice became popular in England, Asia, Australia and Africa. It was only in the early 70s that the hospice concept was introduced and accepted in the United States through the efforts of physicians Cicely Saunders and Elisabeth Kobler-Ross. These practices included effective pain management, comprehensive home care services, counseling for the patient, and acceptance of death as the natural end of the care delivery by health care professionals, bereavement counseling after the patient’s death, and continued research and education (Wexler & Frey).
Quality care at the end of life soon combined with grief counseling and bereavement care. The government stepped in to contain health-care costs when reimbursement for inpatient hospitalization
Bibliography: Carlson, M. D. A., et al (2007). Hospice care: what services do patients and their Families receive? Health Services Research: Health Research and Educational Trust Retrieved on November 20, 2008 from http://findarticles.com./articles/p/mi_m4149/os_4_46/ai_n27331524?tag=content;col1 Indiana Hospice & Palliative Care (2007). Crossroads. Indiana Hospice & Palliative Care, Inc Joseph County. Project Future. Retrieved on November 20, 2008 from http://www.projectfuture.org/index.htm Marshall, L. (2007). The business of dying. ColoradoBiz: Wiesner Publications, Inc. Retrieved on November 20, 2008 from Island Business News: Dolan Media Newswires. Retrieved on November 20, 2008 from