The philosophy of Hospice is that death is a continuum of the life cycle and is not to be feared. The hospice program is designed to fulfill many of the needs of the dying patients, together with the needs of the family. Hospice is dedicated to maintaining the dignity, integrity, and personal choices of the patient. It is committed to providing control of pain, as well as providing the physical, emotional, and spiritual support for both patient and family. This is achieved through an interdisciplinary approach involving the patient’s physician, the Hospice Medical Director, the patient’s own clergy, the hospice staff members of the Interdisciplinary Group and the Hospice Volunteers. The purpose of hospice is to provide enough support for the patient and family so as to allow as tranquil and dignified a death as possible. This means allowing the patient and family to be in control, making their own choices, even though at times we do not agree with those choices. Hospice care is not merely “improved terminal care.” It includes a holistic approach toward the patient/family and toward the issues of dying and death. Since society tends to fragment and isolate patients and their families, our primary concern is to ease this isolation by sustaining the patient in the home as possible, where he/she can be surrounded and nurtured by family an friends.
