Discuss the prevalence and benefits of hospice care in the United States.

Answers will vary. Increasing numbers of dying people and their families are turning to hospice care to help make their final days as meaningful and pain-free as possible. More than one and one half million Americans receive hospice care each year, and the number has been growing. More than one-third of hospice patients are dying of cancer, and the next largest group of patients is suffering from heart disease. The word "hospice" derives from the Latin hospitium, meaning "hospitality," the same root of the words hospital and hospitable. The derivation is fitting, as hospice centers provide a homelike atmosphere to help terminally ill patients approach death with a maximum of dignity and a minimum of pain and discomfort. When necessary, hospice services can provide care in inpatient settings such as hospitals, nursing facilities, or hospice centers, but most hospice care is provided in the patient's home. Hospice workers typically work in teams that include physicians, nurses, social workers, mental health or pastoral counselors, and home health aides. Team members provide physical, medical, spiritual, and emotional support to the entire family, not just the patient. Bereavement specialists assist the family to prepare for the loss and help them through grieving after the death. In contrast to hospitals, hospices provide the patient and family with as much control over decision making as possible. The patient's wishes not to be resuscitated or kept alive on life-support equipment are honored. Patients are given ample amounts of pain-killing narcotics to alleviate suffering. Hospices not only provide a more supportive environment for the patient and family, but they are less costly than hospital treatment, especially home-based care. Though the patient may be required to pay some of the costs, most of the costs are borne by insurance plans.