There is such a rich history to the hospice and palliative care story – We invite you to take a journey with us as we guide you through the fascinating history of hospice and palliative care.
By definition, the word hospice originally meant a lodging for travelers or hosting guests or strangers. In current usage, hospice continues to serve unique travelers – those with life-limiting illnesses.
Hospice has become a philosophy of care that addresses the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of those facing the end of life. In the mid-1800s, Mrs. Jeanne Garnier founded the Dames de Claire in France to care for the dying. The Sisters of Charity opened Our Lady’s Hospice in Dublin in 1879. But the driving force behind the modern hospice movement creating a new approach to care for the dying was a woman in Great Britain who was a registered nurse, a social worker and physician.
Cicely Saunders is recognized as the founder of the modern hospice care. Her experiences at Saint Luke’s Hospital led her to establish Saint Christopher’s in South East London, a hospice dedicated to serve dying patients, in 1967. Her work earned recognition from Her Majesty the Queen when she was named a Dame of the British Empire in 1980 and awarded the Order of Merit in 1989.
The movement to improve end-of-life care in Great Britain inspired others around the world to join in the hospice movement. Early proponents were volunteers with a vision of assuring that no one with a life-limiting condition should have to live and die in unnecessary pain and distress. A legion of international volunteers dedicated themselves to providing holistic care that focused on easing pain and improving quality of life for those with terminal illnesses.
Dame Cicely Saunders came to speak to a group of students at Yale University in the early 1970s. As a result, a nurse and volunteer in Connecticut made the first home care visit to a hospice patient. Quickly, the ideals of hospice were adopted across the country. Serving patients primarily in the home, hospice care initially served primarily those with cancer, ALS and other fatal diseases. With the onset of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, hospice providers became pioneers in caring for those with advanced AIDS.
Like those elsewhere in the country, a nurse in Dayton, Ohio who had cared for her dying mother was determined to improve end-of-life care in her community. In 1978, Betty Schmoll launched Hospice of Dayton with support from every hospital in the community.
Sources:
www.nhpco.org/history-hospice-care
www.hospiceworld.org/history.htm
www.cicelysaundersinternational.org
Published Jul. 21, 2009|Updated Jul. 21, 2009
How, when and where did hospice health care begin?
British physician and humanitarian Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of St. Christopher's Hospice in London in 1967, is considered the founder of the modern hospice movement. The word hospice, from hospitality, means a resting place for travelers or pilgrims.
In the late 1960s, Yale University students invited Saunders to speak at their school. Inspired, the students launched the hospice movement in the United States. The first facility was the Connecticut Hospice, opened in 1974, followed shortly by hospices at Yale Medical Center and in Marin County, Calif.
By the late 1970s, the Health Care Financing Administration was starting hospice demonstration projects across the country.
For more information about hospice, visit the Web sites www.hospicenet.org or www.hospicefoundation.org. There are hospice offices throughout the Tampa Bay area. To find one, see www.hospicedirectory.org and type in your county or ZIP code.
* * *
Winners pay for their prizes
Do winning contestants on The Price Is Right have to pay for delivery charges, taxes, etc., for their prizes?
Contestants are responsible for paying all federal, state and local taxes on their winnings. The suppliers of the prizes are responsible for getting their merchandise delivered to the winners.
The Price Is Right is one of the longest-running game shows in television history. It began in 1956 and ran through 1965 with Bill Cullen as the host. In 1972 the show was resurrected with Bob Barker as the host. In 2007, Barker was replaced by Drew Carey.
For more about the show, see the Web site www.cbs.com/daytime/the_price_is_right. The show is also the subject of a 2007 book by longtime producer Stan Blits, Come On Down!: Behind the Big Doors at The Price Is Right.
* * *
Macfadyen veteran British actor
I enjoyed very much watching Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy in 2005's Pride and Prejudice. And now I am appreciating his performance in Little Dorrit. Can you tell me something about him: Where is he from; how old is he; what else has he appeared in?
Macfadyen, 34, was born in England and has acted often in British TV and in movies. His credits include the series MI-5 (also known as Spooks), Frost/Nixon and the movie Incendiary. MacFadyen is married to actor Keeley Hawes, whom he fell in love with when both were on MI-5. He will reportedly play the sheriff of Nottingham in a new movie version of Robin Hood with Russell Crowe in the title role and Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian. It is tentatively scheduled to be released next May.