Health Care Activity
hospice care
hos·pice care [ hos-pis kair ]
Subclass of:
terminal patient care
Also called:
End-of-life care
Definitions related to hospice care:
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(hospice) A program that provides special care for people who are near the end of life and for their families, either at home, in freestanding facilities, or within hospitals.NCI Dictionary of Cancer TermsU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
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Hospice care is end-of-life care. A team of health care professionals and volunteers provides it. They give medical, psychological, and spiritual support. The goal of the care is to help people who are dying have peace, comfort, and dignity. The caregivers try to control pain and other symptoms so a person can remain as alert and comfortable as possible. Hospice programs also provide services to support a patient's family. Usually, a hospice patient is expected to live 6 months or less. Hospice care can take place At home; At a hospice center; In a hospital; In a skilled nursing facility. NIH: National Cancer InstituteMedlinePlusU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
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Specialized health care, supportive in nature, provided to a dying person. A holistic approach is often taken, providing patients and their families with legal, financial, emotional, or spiritual counseling in addition to meeting patients' immediate physical needs. Care may be provided in the home, in the hospital, in specialized facilities (HOSPICES), or in specially designated areas of long-term care facilities. The concept also includes bereavement care for the family. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)NLM Medical Subject HeadingsU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
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The active total care of patients whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment. The goal of palliative care is achievement of the best possible quality of life for patients and their families. Control of pain, of other symptoms, and of psychological, social, and spiritual problems is paramount. Palliative care affirms life and regards dying as a normal process, neither hastens nor postpones death, provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms, integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care, offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death, and offers a support system to help the family cope during the patient's illness and in their own bereavement. (World Health Organization)NCI ThesaurusU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
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(end-of-life care) Activities that provide physical comfort and emotional calm for those who are dying by involving/including family, friends, spiritual concerns, rituals, pain control, and physical care.The Omaha SystemOmaha Systems, 2005
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Hospice is a concept and a program of care that is specifically designed to minimize suffering for dying people and their family members. In the United States, hospice is the only widely available comprehensive program to support very sick people where they live. Hospice programs forgo most diagnostic testing and life-prolonging...Merck & Co., Inc., 2020
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