life course perspective on hospice and the family

A review of the literature is used to examine the hospice program in the US as an innovative means of helping terminally ill patients & their families with the personal adjustments & role negotiations necessary to cope with dying as a social process. Recent changes in dying as a biological & social event are described, with emphasis on how these are reflected in hospice ideology & services. Ways that the different positions of patients & their families within the life course function as contextual variables that structure the hospice experience are examined, with attention to difference in hospice services for youths, middle-aged adults, & the elderly. An attempt is made to evaluate how well hospice practice has met its ideological goals, as well as identify some constraints on this process. 87 References. K. Hyatt