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Hospice care helps patients and loved ones

More patients use the service for end-of-life care. But what is it?

By Christie Aschwanden

January 22, 2010

Over the last 25 years, the number of Americans turning to hospice for end-of-life care has climbed dramatically -- from 25,000 in 1982 to 1.45 million in 2008, as more and more people choose to spend their final days in the comfort of home or a patient facility with a home-like environment rather than in a hospital pursuing aggressive treatments. Read the full article here >

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Choices at the end of life

It's a time that can be emotionally and financially draining. Those who've studied the matter say that informed choice can make a difference.

By Lisa Zamosky
January 22, 2010

Every year, billions of dollars are spent in the United States to treat terminally ill patients during their final year of life. Tests, procedures and hospitalizations do little to prolong or improve the quality of that life, research suggests, and in fact may make the final days of terminal illness more emotionally upsetting for patients and --their families. Read the full article here >

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Doctors delay communicating end-of-life care issues with terminally ill patients

Delays may mean patients might not be able to make informed choices early in their treatment.

By Jill U. Adams
January 25, 2010

Most doctors don't talk about end-of-life issues with their cancer patients when those patients are feeling well, a new survey has found. Nor do they talk about them until treatments have been exhausted. Those delays mean patients might not be able to make truly informed choices early in their treatment. Read the full article here >