Hospice

Nancy Neveloff Dubler & Budd Heyman & Felicia Cohn

Death is not the worst possible outcome of medical care. Death is not even the worst possible outcome of incarceration. Dying alone, in pain, without social, familial, and spiritual supports is the terrifying end that many prisoners and, indeed, most people fear. Unfortunately, it is too often the reality they experience. Hospice is a form of end-of-life care that emphasizes palliative care services. End-of-life care refers to supportive services for individuals with advanced and potentially fatal illnesses. These services may include curative, life-prolonging, and palliative treatments. Palliative care includes comfort services designed to provide relief from symptoms without necessarily addressing or resolving underlying health problems. The intent is to provide relief from symptoms associated with serious, chronic, or terminal illness to improve quality of life, not to either extend or hasten the dying process. Hospice programs differ from other end-of-life care and palliative programs by specific patient enrollment requirements; Hospice ...

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