Term Paper on "Hospice Grief"

Term Paper 4 pages (1089 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Hospice Care

Providing quality healthcare is one of the top healthcare priorities and over the last many years, healthcare has evolved considerably not only in the treatment of illness and convalescence but also in taking care of the chronically ill and dying patients. Hospice and palliative care has been the focus with the growing number of patients who are terminally ill. Of particular significance is the case of pediatric hospice care and the care for end stage HIV patients. In spite of the fact that the U.S. is one of the best in providing medical care, it is a sad reality that every year more than 53,000 children in the country die due to terminal illness of one kind or the other. [AAP 2000] Pediatric palliative care therefore is an important part of healthcare enabling better management of chronic and terminal conditions and in providing medical as well as psychological support for the patient, parents and family members. Hospice care for terminally ill children involves medical equipments, diagnostic services and therapeutic interventions by group of physicians, nurses and other service providers either at home or at the hospital. The goal of hospice care is to ensure that the final stage of life for the children is as pain free as possible. It also involves the services of bereavement counselors in order to prepare the parents and relatives for the eventuality of the loss of a dear one. [AAP, 2000]

Palliative care also involves an open discussion between parents and the physicians in providing quality care in the end stage. Pain management is very crucial and typically intrusive and painful medical interventions, which would simply prolong life without improving its quality, would be avoided and management of symptoms assumes high priority when the condition has become incurable. These are very tough decisions for the family and the services of the therapist or hospice counselor helps them decide what is best for the patient. For HIV patients, palliative care assumes great significance as more than 16,000 deaths occur in the U.S. every year due to HIV and related opportunistic infections. [AVERT] Providing palliative care for patients diagnosed with advanced stages of HIV is paramount. Symptoms management and in particular, pain management becomes crucial. Even when newly diagnosed with HIV, the psychological breakdown and the depression that follows can be very draining for the patient. Providing psychosocial support and counseling for the patient is very vital in the management of the disease. Hospice care aims to relieve the distress as much as possible and to maximize the quality of life for the patient and the immediate family by means of an interdisciplinary team of care providers who address the physical, social and spiritual needs of the patient. [Joseph F. O'Neill]

2) Maria Nagy was one of the earliest researchers of death and the perception of death by children. In her 1948 research, the Hungarian psychologist analyzed the effects of death on children. Maria Nagy's study concluded that understanding of death was related to the age of the child and thus classified children into three age groups. The first group represented children between 3 and 5 years of age. Maria Nagy observed that children belonging to the first group thought of death more as a temporary separation than… READ MORE

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