Changes in Health Care

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

| This paper will provide an analytical review of the literature pertaining to the costs of |

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|hospice care in the United States. Hospice care is designed to be given to patients at the |

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|end of their life (in the case of elderly persons or persons with terminal illnesses). With |

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|hospice care, the patient no longer receives active medical treatment. Instead, the focus is |

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|placed on making the patient comfortable and on relieving pain until the natural process |

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|of dying is completed. Hospice care can be provided in the patient’s home, by either |

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|family caregivers or visiting nurses. Alternatively, it can take place in an institutional |

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|setting such as a nursing home or a facility designated as a “hospice.” The concept of...