Hospice care

Hospice care focuses on comfort, quality of life, and support for people nearing the end of life, rather than curing the underlying illness.

Palliative care: Care that relieves suffering and improves quality of life during serious illness, alongside or apart from curative treatment. Hospice care is a form of palliative care centered on the end of life.
Home hospice: Hospice services delivered in a person’s home, with caregivers and clinicians sharing support. Many hospice patients receive care where they live rather than in a dedicated facility.
Curative care: Medical treatment intended to eliminate a disease or produce a lasting cure. Hospice generally prioritizes comfort rather than attempts to cure the underlying illness.
Palliative sedation: The monitored use of medication to reduce consciousness when severe suffering cannot otherwise be relieved. It may be considered for refractory symptoms in end-of-life care.
Hospice access disparities: Differences among populations in access to hospice services and their timing or duration. Unequal referral and enrollment can prevent some communities from receiving timely support.
Advance care planning: A process for discussing and recording future health-care preferences and decision-making arrangements. These conversations can guide care when a person cannot speak for themselves.
Inpatient hospice care: Short-term hospice care in a facility for symptoms that cannot be managed adequately elsewhere. It provides intensive symptom management when home care is insufficient.
Life-sustaining treatment: Medical interventions that sustain vital bodily functions when they would otherwise fail. Hospice decisions may include whether to start, continue, or stop such interventions.
Pain management: The assessment and treatment of pain using medication, procedures, and supportive approaches. Hospice teams tailor pain relief to comfort, function, and patient preferences.
Prognostic uncertainty: The difficulty of predicting the course and timing of an illness or death. Uncertain survival estimates can complicate hospice eligibility and referral decisions.

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