What is the history of hospice?
A. Hospices were not always devoted solely to the care of the dying. In fact the word “hospice” (derived from the same root as “hospitality”) referred in medieval Europe to way stations where weary travelers could rest, and the ill could recover or find a peaceful death. The modern hospice movement was begun by Dr. Cicely Saunders in London in 1967. Patients were provided with the best medication possible to control their pain so they and their families could address the emotional and spiritual challenges they faced. In 1968 Florence Wald, then dean of the nursing school at Yale, brought the idea of hospice to the United States.
