\u00a0<\/strong>Trends indicate that as more patients and families are educated about its many benefits, hospice is growing as an attractive alternative to facing death in a clinical setting. The Hospice Foundation\u2019s report puts it this way:<\/p>\n

\u00a0Nevertheless, only a fraction of those who have the option of hospice care choose toparticipate in it. Physicians and nurses caring for patients with terminal illnesses in clinical facilities need to open the dialogue with families about the option of hospice and its possible benefits to patients and their caregivers.<\/p>\n

Until clinicians, patients, and families become more comfortable talking about death and the dying process, hospice will remain marginalized as an excellent option for accessing supportive services during an extremely difficult time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[Editor\u2019s note: This article by Gloria Shur Bilchik was originally published in <\/em>100 Faces of Healthcare<\/span>. It has been updated and reprinted with permission of Health Forum, Inc.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Image credit: Columbia Missourian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although the first American hospice specializing in care for dying patients opened in 1974, the concept is far from new. In the ancient Tibetan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[113],"tags":[1267,193],"yoast_head":"\n