Sibin Thomas, Hospice movement and its ability to care for Human life.

Hospice movement and its ability to care for Human life.

Hospice is a place of rest and refuge for the strangers or pilgrims .It was started at St.Christopher's hospice in London. The aim is to provide comfort and care for the dying. They also conduct research in pain control and in providing a more humane environment for dying patients and their families. In hospice we do not hasten death; nor do we abandon terminally ill patients.  Hospice is a philosophy of care. The hospice philosophy or viewpoint accepts death as the final stage of life. The goal of hospice is to help patients live their last days as alert and pain-free as possible. Hospice care tries to manage symptoms so that a person's last days may be spent with dignity and quality, surrounded by their loved ones. Hospice affirms life and neither hastens nor postpones death. Hospice care treats the person rather than the disease; it focuses on quality rather than length of life. Hospice care is family-centered; it includes the patient and the family in making decisions.

 Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms. These symptoms can be physical, emotional, spiritual or social in nature. The concept of hospice has been evolving since the 11th century. Then, and for centuries thereafter, hospices were places of hospitality for the sick, wounded, or dying, as well as those for travelers and pilgrims. The modern concept of hospice includes palliative care for the incurably ill given in such institutions as hospitals or nursing homes, but also care provided to those who would rather die in their own homes. It began to emerge in the 17th century, but many of the foundational principles by which modern hospice services operate were pioneered in the 1950s by Dame Cicely Saunders.

Early development linguistically, the word "hospice" is derived from the Latin hospes, a word which served double-duty in referring both to guests and hosts. The first hospices are believed to have originated in the 11th century, around 1065, when for the first time the incurably ill were permitted into places dedicated to treatment by Crusaders. They were revived in the 17th century in France by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. Hospice care is used when you can no longer be helped by curative treatment, and you are expected to live about 6 months or less if the illness runs its usual course. Hospice gives you palliative care, which is treatment to help relieve disease-related symptoms, but not cure the disease; its main purpose is to improve your quality of life. You, your family, and your doctor decide together when hospices care should begin. One of the problems with hospice is that it is often not started soon enough. Sometimes the doctor, patient, or family member will resist hospice because he or she thinks it means you're "giving up", or that there's no hope. This is not true. If you get better or the cancer goes into remission, you can be taken out of the hospice program and go into active cancer treatment. You can go back to hospice care later, if needed. But the hope that hospice brings is the hope of a quality life, making the best of each day during the last stages of advanced illness.