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Medical Definition of Hospice care
1. Specialised health care, supportive in nature, provided to a dying person. A holistic approach is often taken, providing the patient and his or her family with legal, financial, emotional, or spiritual counseling in addition to meeting the patient's immediate physical needs. Care may be provided in the home, in the hospital, in specialised facilities (hospices), or in specially designated areas of long-term care facilities. The concept also includes bereavement care for the family. (12 Dec 1998)