In the world there are a sufficient number of diseases that can not be cured. This is not only all known cancer and AIDS, but also more than a hundred diseases, leading, alas, to death. For those people who can no longer be cured, but still in the world of the living, a section of medicine such as palliative therapy has been created. What it is?
Palliative medicine does not cure patients, but supports their condition, quality of life, relief from suffering caused by a serious illness, as well as a range of activities to help relatives of such patients. And the main form of institutions where such assistance is provided is hospice. Such support centers will be discussed in this article.
What is a hospice? This is a medical institution where people permanently on permanent care are treated, who suffer from severe illnesses and incurable forms of diseases. In such a place, they are provided with qualified care of medical personnel, at least a minimal supply of medications, including painkillers, which are laid in such diseases, as well as the simplest attention and support. Usually, when it comes to such institutions, the oncology hospice comes to mind first of all. But in fact in such places there are not only patients suffering from terminal stages of cancer, although in the post-Soviet space such are the majority.
To understand what a hospice is, in fact, you need to visit at least once in the walls of such institutions. Patients who are there on permanent residence are surrounded by familiar things, they are visited by relatives and friends. The very principle of the hospice is to maintain a "home" environment around the patient, who does not have much time left. The only thing that distinguishes such institutions from, for example, intensive care units, is a clear sense of doom. After all, what is the hospice most often? This is the place where people are sent, which have become a burden for those relatives who do not have the opportunity to provide a decent level of care for patients at home. The person who comes here is aware of his diagnosis, although the principle of "openness" is not mandatory for hospices. Also, one more principle of the work of such institutions is an individual approach to each of the patients, depending on their diagnosis, religious and ethical beliefs.
Financing hospices is carried out from charitable funds, and therefore is not always sufficient. Something else is also helped by the relatives of the patients, but purely on a voluntary basis, since one of the rules of such institutions is the free of all services rendered to the dying person, because they do not pay for death, as well as for birth. Well, the best help to hospices is not always measured in money. It is much more important to give patients the attention of volunteers who help the staff to make patients feel comfortable, as well as communicate with those who do not come to relatives and friends for any reason. After all, what is the hospice, as not a home for its inhabitants, and he, as you know, should be cozy and open.