What Is Hospice?

Hospice is a special kind of care provided to people who are living with advanced illnesses, their families and their caregivers. Hospice treats the physical needs of patients and their emotional and spiritual needs as well. Care usually takes place in the home or in a home-like setting. Hospice concentrates on making patients as free of pain and as comfortable as they want to be so they can make the most of the time that remains to them. Hospice care also focuses on helping family members throughout the illness as well as after the patient dies.

More than a million patients and their families utilize the services of hospice in the United States. Hospice care treats a number of diseases, including cancer, end-stage heart disease, end-stage pulmonary disease, liver disease, Alzheimer's, ALS and many more. Regardless of a patient's condition or age, hospices open their doors and their hearts to all terminally ill persons.

Many surviving family members say, "I do not know what I would have done without hospice." And many credit it with helping to make their time with their loved ones warm and memorable.