THE HOSPICE MOVEMENT

A hospice is a place where terminally ill people can be cared for, and can discuss any
fears they may have about death.

The hospice movement specialises in pain control and the aim of the hospice
movement is to give people with painful and terminal diseases the best possible
quality of life.

The modern hospice movement began in the 1960s and many have a Christian
foundation. Although many of the doctors and nurses who work at the hospices may
be Christian, the patients can be of any faith or of none. The staff not only look after
the patients, they help them prepare for their deaths and also help the relatives prepare
for the loss of their loved ones.

There are about 100 hospices in the UK . Many of them have a Christian basis and
many Christians believe they are an alternative to euthanasia.

Hospices are not funded by the Government. They are paid for by fundraising,
donations and money left in wills. There are not enough hospices to meet the demand
for beds.

Hospices are not only concerned with the physical heath of their patients but also with
their emotional, psychological, and spiritual health. The purpose of Christian care is,
"..to glorify God by affirming the sanctity and dignity of life - that even the time of
death can be filled with a living hope, based on trust in Jesus Christ as Lord of life
and death"
- Mission statement of Southwest Christian Hospice - Atlanta Georgia USA

Death is natural, a hospice gives us a chance to prepare for the inevitability of death in
a mostly pain free and controlled environment. It combines the medical with the
spiritual, the human with the divine. Hospices are places where we can truly prepare
to meet our maker.

The Aim of Hospices

The purpose of hospices is to care for and support patients and their family and
friends.
There are 3 main aims of hospice care:

1. To relieve pain. Hospice staff believe all pain, however severe can be brought
under control.
2. To help patients, friends and relatives face up to death. Although many hospices
are Christian foundations, no attempt is made to persuade patients to become
Christians. Opportunities are given to the patients and to family members to
discuss death and dying.
3. To care for the emotional needs of friends and family. Hospices help families cope
with loss before, during and after the death of their relative.

RE Homework
The hospice movement believes that the patient is still living and should be
encouraged to have a life while they are dying. In a hospital, the patient wouldn't be
given the personal care he/she would receive in a hospice. In a hospice, hair dressers
come in, patients can have manicures. They are encouraged to get dressed and get up
rather than stay in bed. The first time a patient may only stay for a couple of weeks to
give their carers a rest or to sort out the correct pain relief. As the illness progresses,
he/she might stay for longer. If they wish to die at home, nurses attached to the
hospice can often support patients at home.

Many who do not support euthanasia believe that hospices allow people to die with
dignity. If the pain is kept under control the individual can live well up to the moment
they die. Many Christians support the hospice movement and believe that if there
were enough spaces available for all who wished to go there, that euthanasia would
not be needed.

Dame Cicely Saunders, who set up St. Christopher's Hospice in 1967 said,
'Anything which says to the ill that they are a burden to their family and that they are
better off dead is unacceptable. What sort of society could let its old folk die because
they are in the way?’
She believed that hospices mean euthanasia is unnecessary.

SUMMARY

♦ Hospice is a place for people who have a terminal illness which allows them
to die in peace and helps the patient to prepare for their own death
♦ They try to control the pain that the patient goes through- this includes
physical, emotional and psychological
♦ They are purely based on funding and donations, the government does not
support them in financial ways.
♦ 3 main aims- to relieve pain, to help patients, friends and relatives face up to
death help friends and finally after that they try to help them cope with the
loss, which includes giving them emotional supports as well
♦ The hospice movement believes the patient is still living and should be
encouraged to have a life even while they are dying.
♦ Many Christians support the hospice movement believe euthanasia is
unnecessary.

RE Homework