1. Palliative Care means that a dying person is given care that is not
curative; that will not sustain life. It will however, ensure that
what life remains can be lived in comfort and without pain.

2. Hospice may be a place but is definitely a “way”. It’s a method of
offering palliative care to the terminally ill. It can take place in a
definite location and be called a Hospice or it may be a way of
allowing people to die with dignity at home.

3. Dame Cicely Saunders is the founder of the Hospice movement and
started the first hospice in 1967 in England. The first hospice in
U.S. began in 1974 by Florence Wald in Connecticut.

4. Some hospice patients have a DNR order nearby. It means Do Not
Resuscitate as they want no heroic measures taken to prevent their
natural death.

5. Hospice volunteers, who provide respite care or run errands for the
patient or family, usually participate in highly focused training.

6. Many insurance health plans cover all or much of hospice care.
Because the hospice team is comprised of many people, including social
workers, much effort is put into successfully coordinating care and
benefits, including Medicare.

7. Caregivers come in many forms: husbands, wives, siblings, other
family members and friends. Caregivers need recognize that they need
to take breaks and time out for

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