Hospice Care: Comprehensive and Compassionate Care of the Terminally Ill

This article outlines crucial elements of Hospice care ~ stressing Hospice philosophy, types of care provided, the Interdisciplinary approach to patient and family support, specific experiences with dying patients, and the responsibility of Hospice to the care of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome patients. Most of I the information was based on experiences of St. Anthony’s Hospice and Life Enrichment Center, the first free-standing hospice in the I I Southwestern United States in Amarillo, Texas. I* Hospice care is somewhat difficult to define. This is in part because 1 the term hospice dates back to the middle ages and has had different ~ meanings over the years. Furthermore, hospice care today is characterized I by very diverse organizational patterns and systems of care. It is perhaps lGerald H. Holman, M.D., is the Executive and Medical Director of St. Anthony’s Hospice and Life Enrichment Center, Amarilloe Texas. 1 Holman: Hospice Care: Comprehensive and Compassionate Care Published by STARS, 1988