Maria Bringas

English Final Draft

Benefits of Hospice Care

What is Hospice? The word Hospice comes from the Latin word hospes, which means

both guest and host. During the 11th century, the concept of Hospice was started by the Roman

Catholic tradition as a place of hospitality for the sick and dying as well as for travelers and

pilgrims. Hospice was wide spread during the middle Ages but stopped as religious orders

became dispersed. No thesis statement

terminally ill patients in the United Kingdom.

The concept of Hospice as a place for and philosophy of end-of-life care began with the

work of a British physician named Dr. Cicely Saunders. In 1948 Dr. Saunders began work with

terminally ill patients in the London area. In 1963, during a talk at Yale University in the US, Dr.

Saunders introduced the idea of specialized care for the dying, which centered on palliative care

rather than treatments to cure. During this talk, Dr. Sanders showed the audience made up of

medical professional's pictures of patients who were terminally ill with cancer prior to and after

receiving specialized hospice care. The difference in the patients' appearance and overall

wellbeing was remarkable, and this began the discussion in the US of providing hospice care to

patients at the end of life. In 1967, Dr. Saunders founded St. Christopher's Hospice in London,

the first Hospice for

In 1969, Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross published her book, On Death and Dying, which

contains contained more than 500 interviews with of dying patients, this book, emphasizes the

benefits of home care over treatment in an institutional setting for terminally ill patients, and

argues that everyone deserves the right to decide about their end-of-life care. In 1972, Dr.

Kubler-Ross testified before the US Senate Special Committee on Aging about the right to die
with dignity, a big part of which is the right to make decisions about one's end-of-life care and to

die at home.

In 1974, the first Hospice in the US, In Branford, CT was founded by Florence Wald the

Dean of the Yale School of Nursing, two pediatricians, and a chaplain. It was also in 1974 when

the first hospice legislation is introduced by Senators Frank Church and Frank E. Moss to

provide federal funds for hospice programs. This legislation was not enacted. In 1978 the

National Hospice Organization is established to promote the concept of hospice care. In 1979

NHO issues the first "Standards of a Hospice Program of Care," adopted by the NHO Board of

Directors in February. In 1982 Congress starts a provision to create a Medicare hospice benefit.

It wasn't until in 1986, that the Medicare Hospice Benefit was enacted which makes Hospice to

be included in Medicaid programs. It was also during this time that hospice care was made

available to terminally ill nursing home residents as well.

So what is exactly is Hospice? Hospice care is a specialized care for people who are

nearing the end of life, people who are terminally ill. One of Hospice's goal is to provide support

and care in the last phase life so that people may live as fully and as comfortably as possible.

Hospice services are provided by a team of health care professionals whose goal is to provide

comfort for a person who is terminally ill by reducing pain and addressing physical,

psychological, social and spiritual needs. Hospice can be seen as an extra layer of support not

only for the patient but also for the patient's family/community during end of life. The goal is to

support the highest quality of life possible for whatever time remains. Hospice care is a

philosophy of care focused on providing comfort, dignity, and support to people with terminal

illness
 es or nearing the end of life. Hospice care is not curative, meaning when a cure is no

longer an option, the hospice team provides relief of physical symptoms which includes pain and

symptom management, as well as emotional and spiritual support for the patient, family, and

caregiver.

There is a misconception that Hospice is a place where a patient lives to die. That is not

true, hospice care is delivered wherever the patient calls home. The care can be delivered at the

patient's home, nursing home, group home, hospice facility if available, and other residence or

sometimes if really needed in a hospital setting. A hospice patient on Hospice never needs to go

to a medical office, clinic, or pharmacy to receive care or medications. Hospice Services is

carried out by a team of specially trained professionals and volunteers, and assistance is available

24 hours day, seven days a week. Hospice also offers a variety of counseling and bereavement

services to families before and after a loved one's death.

The hospice team consists of, The hospice physician or advanced nurse practitioner will

be working with the patients' physician (if the patients current primary care physician still wants

to be involved) to assess and treat pain symptoms, the hospice provider routinely reviews the

patients plan of care to ensure quality care. The hospice provider also makes home visits when

necessary and responds to the hospice nurse when needed. The hospice nurse will be visiting the

patient weekly and the frequency of those visits are usually determined upon admission

assessment. The frequency of visits also can change depending on how much the patient needs

the visits. The hospice nurse routinely assesses the patients' symptoms and treatments. They

work hand in hand with hospice provider to ensure the patient is getting quality care. The

hospice nurse also educates the patients and caregivers about Hospice and the
 plan of care, they are also the main contact for the patient and family. Hospice care is

available to patient and family 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, meaning if the patient suddenly

develops a symptom or is needing to be seen by a hospice nurse in the middle of the night, they

can call the hospice triage line and the triage nurse will be able to assess if the patient needs to be

seen immediately or if it is something that can wait until the following morning. The hospice aid

or certified nursing assistant is able to provide personal care such as bathing and hygiene care for

the patient. They are also available to take vital signs if needed and if ordered. The hospice social

worker is able to provide emotional support and counseling for patients and families as well as

providing information about other community resources. They are also able to assist with

Medicaid applications, help with discharge planning such as looking for a facility for the patient.

The social worker can also assist with advanced directives and final arrangements such as help

with funeral planning. The hospice chaplain can be a minister of any faith, and his or her goal is

to provide spiritual guidance to the patient, their families, caregivers, community, and to the

hospice team, as requested. The hospice chaplain typically visits the patient within a week of the

initiation of hospice care to complete a spiritual assessment and respond to spiritual requests

from the patient. The chaplain also meets with family and caregivers to assess their needs and

concerns. The participation of a chaplain in the treatment plan is entirely up to the patient and

caregiver. Volunteers are also available to spend time with a patient in their home, they can also

offer support to the caregiver such as if the patients caregiver needs to step out for a couple hours

the hospice volunteers are available to keep the patient company. It is important to know that

volunteers cannot provide medical help to the

• Find the thesis of the paper: how might the author make this more vivid? How could the author get
the reader to more strongly identify with the thesis? How does the author connect with you, the reader?
 The author has hooked the reader by with a question at the introduction. The question at the first
sentence of the first paragraph draws the readers' attention by stimulation to think.

• How does the author engage readers in the introduction? In other words, how do they hook their
readers?

https://www.nhpco.org/research/

NHCPO

https://understandhospice.org/hospice-care-team/

Understand Hospice

References:

Hospice grief and bereavement counselors provide support and counseling to patients, families, and
caregivers, as needed. Support groups and classes are also offered for adults, teens, and children.
Families have access to grief counseling and bereavement support for 13 months following a patient's
death.

patient. Grief and Bereavement Counselors,

 No thesis in this paper. A thesis statement is the last sentence of an introduction

paragraph. It directs the reader on what is talked about

• Find the meaning: How does the author indicate what the importance of the issue? Is this reason
clear and compelling?

 Good flow of the narration.

• Did it feel like there were any gaps in the narrative, or important details were missing? If so, how
might the author address these issues in a revised draft?

in the paper. For instance, in this cases the author could have said; in this paper is a narration of Hospice
since history since middle ages.
 The author has clearly elaborated the role of Hospice by even going to an extend of
different
iating the role of Hospice to the current misconceptions.

• How does the author discuss the context of the issue?

• What suggestions and/or questions do you have?

• Do you see obvious APA errors?

ü Wrong referencing format.

ü Poor cover page formatting.

• Are there obvious spelling, grammar, or mechanical errors?

• What was your favorite part of the essay? Please be specific in this response.
ü Second last paragraph. The author has countered popular information with a detailed one.

Good work