Hospice and palliative care can be easily intertwined; they are both concerned with promoting comfort and relieving patient pain. Hospice and palliative care, however, are different in some aspects. Patients who receive hospice care are nearing the end of their lives and there is no effort to cure their disease; the goal is to provide pain relief, a sense of belonging from family and friends if desired, support through the dying stages, and to assure that the person is able to die with dignity. Palliative care is also focused on reducing discomfort; however, the patient receiving care can be at any stage in their disease. Additionally, palliative care can also be administered during a time when a patient is receiving treatment to cure their illness.
Hospice care covers a wide range of services that is focused on the person dying and their family, contrary to that of hospital care which is primarily concerned with treating the disease. Patients are able to receive hospice care in
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A hospice provides a more suitable environment for those at the final stages of their lives compared to a hospital for a multitude of reasons. Hospice care is designed to care for all aspects of the person life; they provide physical, mental, and religious services, as well as caring for the patient’s family. Since hospice care is also available at home, the patient has the opportunity to die in familiar surroundings. On the contrary, hospital care provides primarily physical services to the patient and is focused on the patient’s disease. Also, dying in a hospital can be less pleasant because a connotation of hospitals is illness which is a negative quality compared to that of a home, where a person is surrounded by their memories and belongings. The patient’s family is also cared for by hospice during and following the patient’s demise; however, this is not a service provided by