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What is a hospice?

Hospice is a medical institution that provides free medical, psychological, emotional, social, spiritual, legal, and all other assistance to incurable people and their relatives.

Hospice is a collection of all sorts of aids to protect and respect life until the very last breath.

Apart from medical care, the hospice provides:

• help to overcome loneliness and fears,
• dignity aid,
• assistance in fulfilling the last wish,
• assistance in making the best use of the rest of one's life,
• assistance in training nursing skills.

A hospice is a medical institution, but not a hospital.

Differences:

Hospital:

1. Medical services are provided.
2. Medical staff is employed.
3. Inpatient and outpatient clinic.
4. The object is a sick person.
5. The treatment is based on general schemes approved by the Ministry of Health.
6. Environment - modern medical technologies, monitors, etc.
7. Patient visits on a limited schedule from-to.

Hospice:

1. It does not heal, but maintains a cozy soothing comforting physical, psychological, spiritual, social condition.
2. The patient's relatives and volunteers work next to the medical staff.
3. Hospice, dispensary for the dying, day center, mourning center for relatives.
4. The object is a dying patient and his relatives.
5. There is no common scheme for supervision. The patient receives individualized help, taking into account the physical, psychological, spiritual needs, social environment.
6. Environment - no resuscitation, intensive therapy. The environment is maximally homely.
7. Relatives not only visit, but learn to care for the patient, help the staff. Visiting time is unlimited from-to. You can visit at any time of the day.

The word "hospice" is thought to replace the ancient French word hospitality and means hospitality.

In those days, it was understood as a shelter (mostly a monastery), a rest for tired, weakened worshipers and sick travelers.

The name was introduced in 1967 for the specialized care of dying patients organized by Cicely Sounders. She set up the first St. Christopher's Palliative Care Home.

Today, palliative care and supportive care services around the world are provided by palliative care homes, otherwise known as "hospices".

The work of these institutions is focused on palliative care rather than medical services.

What is palliative care?

Palliative care is a set of measures to improve the quality of life for patients with incurable progressive disease and their relatives. The purpose of such assistance is the prevention and reduction of pain and suffering by ensuring the timely diagnosis and treatment of pain and physical symptoms, as well as the identification and resolution of psychosocial and spiritual problems.

The main components of palliative care are: pain relief; treatment of frustrating symptoms of the disease; psychological, social and spiritual support; assistance to relatives in case of illness and death.

In order to ensure the continuity and availability of care, the organizational forms of palliative care can vary widely.

These include home help services, inpatient services, mobile teams in inpatient health care facilities, day hospitals, mourning services, spiritual assistance.