Fine Perry G, Davis Malene
Pain Research Center, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Suite 200, 615 Arapeen Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA.
Anesthesiol Clin. 2006 Mar;24(1):181-204, x. doi: 10.1016/j.atc.2005.12.004.
Hospice is a health care service delivery system that provides palliative care for patients who have a limited life expectancy and require comprehensive biomedical, psychosocial, and spiritual support. This article reviews the indications and provisions for hospice care for all age groups, including issues of prognosis and the role of the physician on the hospice interdisciplinary team. Because most deaths in the United States result from chronic progressive illnesses (eg, cancer and cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, pulmonary, and neurodegenerative diseases) that affect older individuals, discussion focuses on the provisions of the Medicare Hospice Benefit, which has become an important entitlement in efforts to improve care of the dying in this country.
临终关怀是一种医疗服务提供系统，为预期寿命有限且需要全面生物医学、心理社会和精神支持的患者提供姑息治疗。本文回顾了针对所有年龄组的临终关怀的适应症和服务内容，包括预后问题以及医生在临终关怀跨学科团队中的作用。由于美国的大多数死亡是由影响老年人的慢性进行性疾病（如癌症、心血管疾病、脑血管疾病、肺部疾病和神经退行性疾病）导致的，因此讨论重点是医疗保险临终关怀福利的服务内容，该福利已成为美国改善临终护理工作中的一项重要权益。
