EXPANDING BEYOND BIOMEDICINE: HOW HOSPICE PROVIDES WHOLE PERSON CARE

Abstract

This work is an exploration of how patient-family units navigate and experience hospice care. Since its introduction to the US, hospice care has been transformed from a social movement to a Medicare benefit. Through the Medicare Hospice Benefit hospice organizations now can be finically viable businesses. As hospice care has evolved it has become a form of care that is rooted in biomedicine but extends beyond the confines of biomedicine to provide better care to dying patients. Through affective care and a holistic approach, hospice care provides patient-family units with personhood care and opportunities for whole person healing. Hospice care is medical care that prioritizes relationships and the patient-family unit’s needs. While hospice care is imperfect, it can be used as a model for how to improve biomedical health care systems.