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hospice

Definition of Hospice

(noun) End of life care for the terminally ill that provides comfort, emotional support, and pain management.

Founding of Hospice

  • Cicely Saunders (1918–2005) is credited with founding the modern hospice movement. Saunders’ commitment to care for “terminally ill cancer patients evolved from her work at St. Luke’s Home for the Dying Poor and St. Joseph’s Hospice as a nurse, as a medical almoner (social worker), and finally as a physician” (Joy 2015:19).

Hospice Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: hos·pice

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /hAHs-puhs/
  • British English – /hOs-pis/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˈhɑspəs/
  • British English – /ˈhɒspɪs/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: hospices
  • Pain management is called palliative care.
  • An individual in hospice may have a “do not resuscitate” (DNR) order.

Related Quotation

  • “The emphasis on the patient–family dyad as an interdependent unit of care in some ways is a departure from the trajectory of contemporary Western approaches to medicine. In view of the gradual deinstitutionalization of specifically end-of-life health care, many hospice professionals think the commitment to the patient–family dyad is justified. Moreover, they deem this obligation necessary in order to provide quality palliative care to gravely ill patients. . . . Holistic patient care is one of the aims of hospice care. Furthermore, treating patients holistically entails caring for their families in such a way that the family both gives and receives care. If so, then treating the family as an interdependent unit of care is a necessary condition for delivering high-quality hospice care” (Smith 2014:144–45).

Additional Information

Related Terms

References

Buck, Joy. 2014. “‘From Rites to Rights of Passage’: Ideals, Politics, and the Evolution of the American Hospice Movement.” Pp. 13–37 in Hospice Ethics: Policy and Practice in Palliative Care, edited by T. W. Kirk and B. Jennings. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kastenbaum, Robert. 2003. “physician-assisted suicide.” Pp. 847–51 in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying, edited by R. Kastenbaum. New York: Macmillan Reference USA.

Smith, Patrick T. 2014. “The ‘Patient–family Dyad’ As an Interdependent Unit of Hospice Care: Toward an Ethical Justification.” Pp. 144–62 in Hospice Ethics: Policy and Practice in Palliative Care, edited by T. W. Kirk and B. Jennings. New York: Oxford University Press.

Works Consulted

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehler. 2011. Sociology: The Core. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Cite the Definition of Hospice

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “hospice.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved October 15, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/hospice/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

hospice. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/hospice/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “hospice.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed October 15, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/hospice/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“hospice.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/hospice/>.