Advances in hospice care.

Hospice care developed in part as a reaction to the impersonal and technology-dependent end-of-life care offered by modern medicine. Unique approaches to care that emphasize interdisciplinary team management of troublesome symptoms and the promotion of quality of life as defined by the patient, are finding their way into all aspects of health care. Symptom control measures have expanded to include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and multimodal therapies. Both the development of a unique knowledge base and advances in research have fostered the integration of hospice and palliative care into mainstream medicine.