“Hospice” refers to a system of palliative – that is, comfort-oriented – care designed for patients in a terminal phase of illness. Hospice should be understood as a philosophy of care rather than a place where care is offered. It is important to recognize that such care can be offered in a wide range of settings including free-standing hospices, hospital-based hospice programs, individual homes, nursing homes, and even prisons.
The History of the Hospice Movement
St. Christopher’s Hospice and the Beginning of the Modern Hospice Movement
Dame Cicely Saunders founded the first modern hospice movement in 1967 in Sydenham, a southeast section of London. Saunders herself was a deeply spiritual woman, heavily influenced by Evangelical Christianity. The name she chose – St. Christopher’s Hospice – had deep religious roots.
The first hospices were established by religious orders, such as the Knights Hospitallers to care for pilgrims, including the sick and incurable, as they journeyed to the...
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Doka, K.J. (2020). Hospice. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_9082
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