This article in the Santa Maria Times is a good summary article about what hospice does and how it works. Nothing fancy, just some info about what the process is like and what patients can expect.
I like it more than most articles like this, because it highlights the spiritual care component of hospice care. Often you see spiritual care downplayed in general hospice writing because nobody wants it to sound like a patient will be forced to pour out their soul to a chaplian. In the end I believe that the spiritual side of the hospice team often does more good than the clinical side. People want to know what is going to happen after they die. Our chaplians try to help them find the answer to that question, or just let them discuss/think through what they already believe. Either way, for those who believe in life after death, the discussion is always helpful.
In general the goal of our clinical team is to make a patient comfortable while the goal of the Chaplian is to give the patient peace. If you can do both of those things for a dying person, then you have done something good!
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