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hospice |
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hospice /hos·pice/ (hos´pis) a facility that provides palliative and supportive care for terminally ill patients and their families, either directly or on a consulting basis.
hospice [hos′pis] Etymology: L, hospes, host a system of family-centered care designed to assist the terminally ill person to be comfortable and to maintain quality of life through the phases of dying. Hospice care is multidisciplinary and includes home visits, professional health care available on call, teaching and emotional support of the family, and physical care of the client. Some hospice programs provide care in a center, as well as in the home or in a nursing home. Hospice also offers bereavement counseling for the family. See also emotional care of the dying patient, stages of dying. hospice [hos´pis] originally, a medieval guest house or way station for pilgrims and travelers. The term is currently used to designate either a place or a philosophy of care for persons in the last stages of life and their families. For decades there have been hospices in England, free-standing facilities unaffiliated with hospitals and autonomous in terms of professional procedures. These hospices were the predecessors of the hospices now found in the United States.
A hospice program provides palliative and supportive care for terminally ill patients and their families. The concept of hospice is that of a caring community of professional and nonprofessional people, supplemented by volunteer services. The emphasis is on dealing with emotional and spiritual problems as well as medical problems. Of primary concern is control of pain and other symptoms, on keeping the patient at home for as long as possible or desirable, and on making his or her remaining days as comfortable and meaningful as possible. After the patient dies family members are given support throughout their period of bereavement. hospice, n system for care of a patient during the final phases of a terminal illness, often involving family, emotional support, and professional health care in the patient's home.
hospice (hos´pis), n a program under medical direction and nurse coordination that provides a variety of inpatient and home care for individuals who are terminally ill and their family members; provides calming and accommodating care that meets the special needs arising from the variety of stresses experienced during the final phases of illness, death, and grieving (e.g., emotional, physical, social, economic, and spiritual).
hospice Managed care An institution which provides comfort care and a combination of inpatient, outpatient, and home health services–pain relief, symptom management and support, for terminally ill Pts (and their families) with CA, AIDS
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