American Hospice Foundation, Washington DC, USA

By Johanna Turner

We've all just lived through the 'round the clock, tragic story of a young woman and her conflicted family in Pinellas Park, Florida.  We have followed the prolonged legal and political repercussions.  We've heard many conflicting accounts of what comprises disability and what is a persistent vegetative state, why nutrition and hydration may be considered extraordinary measures, what is comfortable or painful as death approaches, and when it is time to say "enough."  It's not surprising that many Americans may be confused or may have new questions.  Some questions are best answered by physicians, some must be explored through the lens of individual values and faith, and all are issues that must be part of family dialogues.

The American Hospice Foundation does not speak for the hospice where this patient died or other individual hospice programs.  The foundation can speak to the hospice philosophy and the standards of care that have brought comfort and dignity to the final days of millions of Americans.

Hospice is comfort.  Patients and their families can be helped to understand the choices that will provide the greatest degree of comfort within the framework of their personal goals.  No one knows comfort care like hospice physicians and nurses, and every necessary comfort measure is taken all the way through the last seconds of life.  It's good medicine.

Hospice is dignity.  Patients are valued for the unique life each has led, as well as their role in the lives of those they love.  This remarkable life deserves dignity, and hospice workers believe that the final day of life has no less dignity than the best day ever known.  That's how most of us want to be treated.

Hospice is respect.  Each of us makes choices about the way we want to live, and sometimes the way we want to die.  There is no hospice way – it's about respecting the personal wishes, within the bounds of the law, of those most affected.  Some of these choices are difficult, but hospice team members can share what they know and encourage families to find the best answer for themselves.

Hospice is hope.  When life is fragile and days are numbered, hope takes on new meaning.  There is hope for comfort and peace.  Hope that one's life has served a purpose.  Hope for the healing of those left behind.  Hope derived from personal beliefs.   

Hospice joins people in a shared experience of life and death.  Recent research indicates that the emotional and spiritual aspects of terminal illness can be even more important to the dying than personal comfort.  Those facing death yearn for loving, healing interaction even as they consider the value of their own lives.  With the shared wisdom of the entire hospice team (physicians, nurses, social workers, aides, chaplains, volunteers), it is possible for patients and families to fulfill the need for healthy relationships and make peace with the meaning of life even in death.

Sadly, we complex human beings will always find points of disagreement, even in the most important things.  People of good will and strong faith will continue to believe differently.  Doctors will practice their science to the best of their ability and sometimes reach disparate conclusions because there is no such thing as 100 percent certainty.  Through it all and doing its best, there is hospice, where each individual patient is cared for and valued through time-tested experience and the highest level of clinical practice.  It's one thing you can count on.

© 2005. American Hospice Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

To help us offer more free articles like these, please donate to the American Hospice Foundation. For more information on hospice, grief and end-of-life issues, visit the American Hospice Foundation website at www.americanhospice.org or contact us at 800-347-1413 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .