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Hospice Care, a service that attends to the quality of life rather than the length of life, provides care and bedside assistance for terminally ill patients.

By raising the quality of life, rather than the quantity of life, Hospice is an ideal path to take in order to achieve a sacred “good death”.

The idea of “the good death” originated in the 15th century as a Catholic philosophy.

This philosophy was thought to be the proper way to ends one’s life and ensure entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

It also held the belief that the physical appearance of a person at the exact moment of death is what the person looked like in heaven.

nurses, therapists, home health aides, psychologists, social workers, spiritual counselors, physicians, volunteers, and the patient’s family.

The patient is able to express his or her feelings, anxiety, and often “final words” to his or her Hospice team.

Throughout these last months of life, the team provides emotional and spiritual support, social services, and grief counseling to the patient and his or her family.

The person has to profess his or her final words.

While in Hospice care, each patient has a team of professionals who each have specific jobs related to the patient’s individual needs.

As patients in the Civil War expressed their final words to their family and/or nurses, patients today participate in similar actions.

This provides a chance for the patient to say his or her final goodbyes to loved ones.

Often these professionals become “family” to the patient during his or her last stages of life.

In previous centuries, a person often had his or her last breath at home and was surrounded by his or her family.

After death, the deceased was laid out in his or her home and surrounded by family and friends.

Death vigils may have changed over the years, but the same concept of caring for each other in the time of need and being there for the dying person as he or she enters death remains the same.

Like “the good death” Hospice provides a vigil for the dying patient.

It helps to create a calm and peaceful environment for the dying.

This sense of calmness can help the dying to go peacefully into death.

Vigil volunteers provide emotional, spiritual and physical support to patients and family members during the patient's active dying process.

Hospice works to treat the soul and to help the dying find inner peace in the last days of his or her life. Understanding this sacredness of death may help the dying to find peace with him or herself, with family and friends, and with God.

It can be a spiritual, sacred experience for everyone who cares for and interacts with the dying person.

This peacefulness that the dying person feels within allows him or her to die with dignity. When a person dies with dignity and is at peace with his or her life, it brings out the sacred nature of death.

Hospice Care and "The Good Death"

Works Cited

"The History of Hospice." Nationalhospicefoundation.org. National Hospice Foundation, 2013. Web. 22 June 2013.

"Hospice Care." Cancer.org. American Cancer Society, 2013. Web. 22 June 2013. <http://www.cancer.org/treatment/findingandpayingfortreatment/choosingyourtreatmentteam/hospicecare/hospice-care-hospice-care>.

"Hospice Care in America." Nhpco.org. National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, 2012. Web. 22 June 2013.

"Hospice Vigil Volunteer Training." Keystonecare.com. The KeystoneCare, n.d. Web. 22 June 2013.

Seno, Virginia L. "Make a Sacred Difference: 3 Reasons To Call Your Local Hospice." Esseinstitute.com. Esse Institute, 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 22 June 2013.

"What Does Hospice Care Provide?" Cancer.org. American Cancer Society, 2013. Web. 22 June 2013. <http://www.cancer.org/treatment/

findingandpayingfortreatment/choosingyourtreatmentteam/hospicecare/hospice-care-services>.

"What Is Hospice?" Hospice.org. Hospice of Southern Illinois, 2013. Web. 22 June 2013. <http://www.hospice.org/hospice-care/what-is-hospice/>.

White, Janet M. "Hospice Care Offers Sacred Passage of Hope and Healing." Ucc.org. United Church of Christ, June-July 2008. Web. 22 June 2013.

From the first St. Christopher’s Hospice Care in London in 1967 to Hospice Care today, it has grown into a worldwide place of care for the terminally ill.

“In 2011, an estimated 1 .65 million patients” received care in over 5,300 Hospice services in America.

The sacredness of death

http://www.nhpco.org/sites/default/files/public/Statistics_Research/2012_Facts_Figures.pdf

Hospice strengthens the idea of the sacredness of death.

Death is treated as a sacred progression of life that every person will one day experience.

The Hospice team guide the dying in their journey to an acceptance that death is a natural part of life.

“You matter because of who you are. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can , not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die”

-Dame Cicely Saunders

The fourth and fifth steps to "the good death"

The person had to die a “calm death”

A vigil was held and the body was to be buried at home.

The third step to "the good death"

The person should be at home surrounded by his or her family during death

While in Hospice care, over half of the patients seek care in their own home. The care is provided in a setting that best meets the needs of each patient and family.

nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospitals.

A patient may not be able to spend his or her last days in the home, but Hospice creates a simulated home environment where a patient can be surrounded by family and professionals that truly value the importance of each life.

The second step to "the good death"

The first step to "the good death"

What is "the good death"

The person has to be aware that he or she is dying

Hospice accepts that death is the final stage of a person’s life, but takes on a positive look about death by encouraging life.

Like “the good death”, a person in Hospice care is often aware and accepting that his or her life is ending.

The steps to "the good death" can be compared to Hospice Care

The steps to "The Good Death"

  • First, the dying person had to be aware that he or she was in the process of dying.
  • Second, the person had to profess his or her final words.
  • Third, it was important for the person to be at home surrounded by his or her family.
  • Fourth, the person had to die a “calm death”
  • Fifth, a vigil was held and the body was to be buried at home.

Though war and other events may have altered the ability to perform all of the steps of “the good death,” Hospice care attempts to restore “the good death” in a caring and compassionate way.

Brief History of Hospice Care

Hospice began with Dame Saunders

While attending to wounded soldiers as a nursing student during World War II, she realized the need for compassion and support during the last stages of the soldier’s lives.

Recognizing this need, in 1967 she opened St. Christopher’s Hospice in London.

Not long before opening St. Christopher’s Hospice, she gave a lecture at Yale University. In the audience of her lecture was Florence Wald,

After being inspired by Saunders, Wald traveled to St. Christopher's Hospice to learn its approach to patient care and to study the Hospice's organization and management

Six years later, Florence Wald established Connecticut Hospice in Branford. This was the start of Hospice care in the United States.

The last few months of a person’s life can become very challenging in terms of emotional and physical well-being, mental stress, and discomfort.

The quality of life is questioned

Many questions arise:

  • "Who is going to take care of me when I can’t take care of myself?”
  • “How do I want to spend the last few months of my life?
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