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Zail S. Berry, MD, MPH; Joanne Lynn, MD, MA

JAMA. 1993;270(2):221-223.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Hospice is a mode of care designed to support the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual needs of people at the end of life, with the goal of allowing the dying process to unfold with a minimum of discomfort and the maintenance of dignity and quality of life. Care is provided by family and friends at home or in a homelike setting within a hospital, nursing home, or special hospice care facility. The hospice team, including nurses, social workers, chaplains, and volunteers, as well as physicians, seeks to address the needs of family members in addition to those of the patient.

Hospice care is appropriate when traditional medical care, so often focused on length of life, is no longer the best way to serve the patient's interests. This may be when medical therapies no longer offer benefit to the patient or when the benefits offered are outweighed by accompanying burdens.

At a . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
George Washington University, Washington, DC; Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Hanover, NH

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