Hospice Care

Medical Treatment

Primary focus

Patient's quality of life: physical, emotional, spiritual

Patient's physical illness

Attitude towards death

Part of the normal process of living

Failure of medical treatment

Physical care

Palliative care: seeks to relieve pain and physical discomfort, neither prolongs life nor hastens death

Curative care: seeks to prolong life, intensive care can involve pain and physical discomfort

Emotional and spiritual support

Integral to hospice care

Ancillary to physical treatment

Setting

Almost always in the home; also can be in nursing facilities or assisted living settings.

Mostly at hospitals or clinics

Involvement of family and friends with patient

Integral to hospice care

Ancillary to treatment

Support for family and friends

Integral to hospice care

Ancillary to treatment

After death

Bereavement care offered to family and friends for over a year

Death concludes treatment