Description:
Hospice care is a service to support people by providing end-of-life care when the patient's condition is considered terminal and the patient is no longer receiving curative treatment. A terminal diagnosis is defined as the patient having six months or less to live if the condition runs its normal course. The hospice team works with patients to manage pain and symptoms so that their remaining time may be spent in peace and dignity. Dedicated to quality of life, hospice offers a support system of professional staff and volunteers who assist the patient and their family in meeting their physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. Hospice care stresses the importance of human needs that go beyond the physical care of the patient. Hospice neither hastens nor postpones death; hospice affirms life and regards dying as a normal process.