title: Access to care.
abstract: In the twenty years since the National Hospice Organization began, hospice has grown tremendously. However, it still only serves a small percentage of terminally ill patients. This is because access to hospice services is limited by various restrictions to care. These barriers to care include societal attitudes towards death, diversity issues, socioeconomic issues, and eligibility issues. In order to develop and serve more of the population, hospice agencies must be flexible, creative, and use ingenuity to bridge the gaps that occur for some terminally ill patients.
authors.affiliation: Palliative Care Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Dahlin
mesh_terms: D001293:Attitude to Death; D001294:Attitude to Health; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006738:Hospices / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D020380:Needs Assessment; D018579:Patient Selection; D014481:United States