Hospice: lessons for geriatricians.
Hospice is a new system of medical care provision that has undergone remarkable growth and received widespread support in the United States in less than a decade. Its success is apparently related to an accurate reading of social trends and the ability to fill a widely perceived void in the medical profession. Geriatric medicine is developing in the same environment and has not yet established its social or professional role. A review of the hospice experience suggests directions for the development of geriatric medicine that could promote its growth as a socially useful and professionally desirable new approach to medical education and service.
D000368:Aged; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000639:trends; D006738:Hospices / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D006278:Medicare; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011788:Quality of Life; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States