Hospice care is a type of care that's specifically designed to help patients during their final stages of life. It provides a centralized program of palliative services and supportive services, which are delivered by an interdisciplinary team.
Palliative care is a term that refers to the range of services and activities that are used to improve the quality of life for patients with a serious illness or injury. It encompasses everything from symptom management to providing emotional support. Hospice care is usually considered the most comprehensive form of palliative care, because it covers all aspects of the patient's life — from prevention and early diagnosis to providing hospice-specific treatments and support systems.
The benefits of hospice care are numerous: it reduces stress levels for families by taking some of the burden off their shoulders, helps patients die in as comfortable a way as possible, and helps preserve both dignity and privacy. In addition, it has been shown to be cost-effective in comparison to other forms of cancer treatment.
