How We Help
What is Hospice?
Hospice deals with physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs in a way that is sensitive to personal, cultural, and religious values, beliefs and practices. Hospice refers not only to an organization of people devoted to supporting people facing life-limiting illnesses but also to the philosophy of care that values quality of life until death. Hospice provides physical care as well as emotional and spiritual support. It is a philosophy that puts the individual at the centre and in control of his or her own life and care.
Our hospice services are provided in a person’s home, not as an alternative, but as a complement to professional medical care.
The emphasis for hospice palliative care is on co-ordinated care at home by teams of doctors, nurses, social workers, personal support workers, chaplains and volunteers. Hospice programs rely heavily on volunteers to provide support to clients and to their family.
In short, hospice is not a place, it is a concept of care. Hospice is about caring when curing is not possible. Hospice is about the quality of life at the last stages of life. Hospice is about helping to make a difficult life passage meaningful. In Ontario, the number of hospice programs has grown from eight in 1989 to 115 with 13,300 volunteers providing service in more than 400 communities.