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In our great-grandparents' time, birth and death were commonplace in the
family home and accepted as natural events.
With time and the advance of medicine, we transplanted birth and death to a new and often
strange and intimidating environment: the modern hospital, where family members were merely
guests and control rested with unknown health professionals.
While acknowledging the many benefits of modern medicine, a group of clergy,
healthcare workers and other thoughtful people began wondering in the 1970s whether
these advances, by depriving the natural dying process of its family ties, had
also robbed it of its dignity. Out of their concerns, hospice care was born in the
United States and the natural process of dying was returned to the home.
Hospice has experienced extraordinary growth since then, with more than 3,000 hospices now
serving people in every state of the union and the District of Columbia.
Bringing death out into the open and making sickness and loss a time of sharing
and remembrance is difficult. While the hospice experience may not be for everyone,
those who choose hospice find the compassion of caring for a loved one and the
richness of sharing memories of youth, trials and joys a rewarding experience never
to be forgotten.
Hospice is a special kind of care for dying people, their families and caregivers that:
- treats the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of patients
- takes place in the patient's home or in a home-like setting
- concentrates on making patients as free of pain and as comfortable as they want to be, so they can
make the most of the time that remains to them
- considers helping family members an essential part of its mission
- believes the quality of life to be as important as the length of life
Hospice is a special kind of care for the living, the families & caregivers left behind that:
- allows a bereavement team to make regular contact
- concentrates on offering compassionate understanding on the healing journey
- gathers to remember loved ones at memorial services
- offers educational opportunities to transform pain into growth
Hospice Facts:
More than a million patients and their families have utilized the services of hospice
(pronounced "HOS-pis").
Some 60 percent of all hospice patients have cancer and many have either heart disease or lung disease.
Regardless of a patient's condition or age, hospices open their doors and their hearts to all terminally ill persons.
Many surviving family members say, "I do not know what I would have done without hospice." And many credit hospice with
helping to make those final days with their loved ones a warm and memorable experience.
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