Growing Numbers Seek Hospice Care

Hospice care enrollment continues to rise as public recognizes the advantages

In the past, physicians didn't specialize in helping people deal with their final days of life. Instead, they often focused purely on survival, even if a patient was terminally ill.

Over the last four decades, the hospice movement has greatly changed how people die in the United States. Specially trained physicians, nurses and caregivers now devote themselves to helping dying patients find what they are looking for — freedom from pain, nausea, worry and spiritual angst.

Hospice care isn't universally accepted among patients or doctors some of whom push until the very end of life for a cure or remission of illness and avoid the issue of impending death. That hasn't stopped the more than 70 percent of eligible San Diego County residents from going into hospice care, according to the state.

This quote, from a Voice of San Diego article, is another testament to the recent growth and success of hospice care. Thanks to years of efforts, we have progressed from a small offshoot of the medical field to having a plethora of medical professionals and scientific studies supporting the fact that, for many, hospice is the most effective way to care for those nearing the end of their lives. Seeking care and comfort, not only physical but also mental and spiritual, the percentage of those seeking hospice care will likely continue to increase as the subject grabs more public attention.