Hospice is a concept of caring borrowed from medieval times, where travelers, pilgrims and the sick, wounded or dying could find rest and comfort. The contemporary hospice offers a program of care to patients and families facing a life threatening illness encompassing medical, nursing, spiritual, and psychological care. It is more than a medical alternative - it is an attitude toward death and the process of dying. Terminal disease is managed so that patients can …showed first 75 words of 4417 total…

…showed last 75 words of 4417 total…Death Education, 8(5-6), 383-398. Russell, G. M. (1985) . Hospice programs and the hospice movement: An investigation based on general systems theory. Dissertation Abstracts International, 45(9), 3082. Simson, S., & Wilson, L. B. (1986) . Strategies for success: An examination of the organizational development of early hospice programs. Hospice Journal, 2(2), 19-39. World Health Organization. (1990) . Hospice Facts [On-line]. Available HTTP: www.cp-tel.net/pamnorth/facts.htm Zehnder, P. W., & Royse, D. (1999) . Attitudes toward assisted suicide: A survey of hospice volunteers. Hospice Journal, 14(2), 49-63.