Back to standard view
To print this page using a PC press 'Ctrl + P' on your keyboard. To print this page using a Mac press 'Command + P' on your keyboard.

Home Career Opportunities Volunteering Contact Lion Site Search What is Hospice? Why Lion Hospice? Who Pays? Levels and Settings for Care Tools for Decision Making Grief and Bereavement

What is Hospice?

Lion Hospice care provides comfort and support to persons in the last phases of an incurable disease so that they may live as comfortably and fully as possible. The goal of hospice care is to improve the quality of a patient's last months by offering comfort, dignity and care in a familiar setting.

Lion Hospice recognizes that the dying process is a part of the normal process of living and focuses on enhancing the quality of remaining life. Hospice affirms life and neither hastens nor postpones death.

Lion Hospice is not a place but a concept of care. Today, most hospice care takes place in a patient's home where he or she is surrounded by family and familiar things.

Lion Hospice offers a specialized knowledge of medical care that is provided by a team-oriented group of specially trained professionals and volunteers. Lion Hospice physicians are trained to provide medical support and advice to the patients and the patient's physician to address and alleviate the problems that keep patients uncomfortable and family members stressed.

Lion Hospice addresses all symptoms of a disease, with a special emphasis on controlling a patient's pain and discomfort.

Lion Hospice care differs from other forms of health care because not only does it address the needs of the patient, but also the emotional, social and spiritual impact of the disease on the patient and the patient's loved ones.

Lion Hospice offers a variety of bereavement and counseling services to families before and after a patient's death.

Lion's strong team helps patients and families address the significant medical, emotional, psychological and spiritual changes in their lives. Quality of life is improved as physical, emotional and spiritual concerns are addressed and alleviated. Volunteers also offer families companionship and practical support such as staying with patients while their caregivers take time for themselves.

The History of Hospice

The word "hospice" stems from the Latin word "hospitium" meaning guesthouse. It was originally used to describe a place of shelter for weary and sick travelers returning from religious pilgrimages. During the 1960's, Dr. Cicely Saunders, a British physician began the modern hospice movement by establishing St. Christopher's Hospice near London which is still in operation today. St. Christopher's organized a team approach to professional care giving, and was the first program to use modern pain management techniques to compassionately care for the dying.

The first hospice in the United States was established in New Haven, Connecticut in 1974 and is also still in operation. What began as a grass-roots volunteer movement has evolved into a well-recognized part of the United States health care system. T he Medicare Hospice Benefit was made a permanent part of Medicare entitlement by Congress in 1986. Currently, there are more than 3,200 hospice programs in the United States. Puerto Rico and Guam. Hospice programs cared for nearly 885,000 people in the United States in 2002.

Today, people with a life-threatening disease and those who are at the end of their lives, have more choices in the kinds of care available to them. Today, individuals experiencing the last months of a long and debilitating illness have several options for treatment and many decisions to make. Lion's team of physicians, nurses, social workers and chaplains can help to clarify options, provide information and promote open communication among patient, family and professional care givers.