What are hospice care and palliative care?
Hospice care refers to providing medical services for someone with a life expectancy of 6months or less. It generally is for people with terminal illnesses, who are at the last stages of life and require constant medical supervision. It is solely patient-centred and not only addresses physical distress but also emotional and spiritual issues. What is noteworthy is that the care and supervision given to the patient in hospice care are monitored by professionals and they not only address the patient’s needs but also the needs of the family members and design their activities accordingly helping the family members come to terms with the lifespan of the patient and helping them celebrate every moment.
Palliative care:
According to WHO, palliative care provides relief and care from distressing symptoms, affirms life and regards dying as a normal process, intends neither to postpone or hasten death, integrates psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care, offers a support system to help patients as actively as possible until death. It also offers a support system to help the family cope with the patient’s illness and their own bereavement. It is applicable in the early stages or course of illness in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life.
The German healthcare system has imbibed and established hospice and palliative care since 2007 by law as its integrated part. The German healthcare system has also ensured to make palliative care and Palliative Medicine as an integral part of the curriculum for medical students with seats in 11 universities all over Germany out of the 36 that are present.Â
In the German language, the word “Sterbekliniken” refers to “hospitals for the dying”.Â
The onset of palliative care as a field in Germany:
Compared to its European contemporaries there was a considerable delay in the establishment of hospice and palliative care as an important field. It all began in the ’70s when there was an encounter with Cicely Saunders by the chaplains, medical students and physicians. This led to the making of a German documentary titled “16 Days to Go. Hospice Care for the Dying in London”.
The first palliative care unit was opened at Cologne University Hospital in the year 1983. Both East and West Germany were gaining more and more awareness of what palliative care entails, and pioneering homecare models for the dying were established throughout.
After the reunification of Germany in the ’90s, there was a considerable amount of progression in the field of palliative and hospice care in the field of healthcare. The German Hospice and Palliative Care Association was founded in 1992. There was also subsequent establishment of the German Association for Palliative Medicine in 1994. From 1997 onwards came the various implementation of curricula in palliative care for different professions. The first bill for palliative and hospice care was passed in 1996 and by 2007 a legal establishment of outpatient palliative care and treatment was at its place and in full form.
