Which statement best describes the focus of hospice care relative to general palliative care?

Which statement best describes the focus of hospice care relative to general palliative care?

• A. Hospice focuses on curative therapies only.
• B. Hospice is provided only in hospital settings.
• C. Hospice care focuses on comfort, quality of life, and support.
• D. Hospice exclusively provides experimental treatments.

Answer: (C)

Hospice care centers on comfort, quality of life, and support for patients and families as the illness progresses toward end of life. The emphasis is on relieving pain and other distressing symptoms, helping with daily functioning, and providing emotional, spiritual, and practical support, rather than pursuing disease-curing or aggressive treatments. Care can happen at home, in hospice facilities, or in other settings, depending on the patient’s situation and preferences. General palliative care, by contrast, can be provided at any stage of a serious illness and may accompany disease-directed or curative treatments. It aims to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life from the outset, not only at the end of life, and is not restricted to a terminal prognosis. So the statement that best describes the focus of hospice relative to general palliative care is that hospice emphasizes comfort, quality of life, and support.

Hospice care centers on comfort, quality of life, and support for patients and families as the illness progresses toward end of life. The emphasis is on relieving pain and other distressing symptoms, helping with daily functioning, and providing emotional, spiritual, and practical support, rather than pursuing disease-curing or aggressive treatments. Care can happen at home, in hospice facilities, or in other settings, depending on the patient’s situation and preferences.

General palliative care, by contrast, can be provided at any stage of a serious illness and may accompany disease-directed or curative treatments. It aims to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life from the outset, not only at the end of life, and is not restricted to a terminal prognosis.

So the statement that best describes the focus of hospice relative to general palliative care is that hospice emphasizes comfort, quality of life, and support.