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Providing
Humanized Care
The
Hospice movement is a way to humanize c are of the dying. Traditionally,
the medical community concentrates on investigation, diagnosis, and cure,
so that often the dying are lonely, frightened, and in pain. Hospice care
concentrates on symptom and pain control for the patient and emotional
and spiritual support for both patient and family. Palliative care is used
synonymously with Hospice care.
Traditionally,
hospice is the facility, and palliative care, the type of care. The movement
to this kind of care was championed in the 1960's by Dr. Cecily Saunders
in London, with the opening of St. Christopher's Hospice. This was a place
where people could come to die - it also offered support in the home for
those who wanted to die at home. Since then, the movement has grown and
spread world-wide, in Canada with Dr. Balfour M. Mount. The first Hospice
in Canada was at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.
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