1. Palliative Care means that a dying person is given care that is not curative; that will not sustain life. It will however, ensure that what life remains can be lived in comfort and without pain.

2. Hospice may be a place but is definitely a way. Its a method of offering palliative care to the terminally ill. It can take place in a definite location and be called a Hospice or it may be a way of allowing people to die with dignity at home.

3. Dame Cicely Saunders is the founder of the Hospice movement and started the first hospice in 1967 in England. The first hospice in U.S. began in 1974 by Florence Wald in Connecticut.

4. Some hospice patients have a DNR order nearby. It means Do Not Resuscitate as they want no heroic measures taken to prevent their natural death.

5. Hospice volunteers, who provide respite care or run errands for the patient or family, usually participate in highly focused training.

6. Many insurance health plans cover all or much of hospice care. Because the hospice team is comprised of many people, including social workers, much effort is put into successfully coordinating care and benefits, including Medicare.

7. Caregivers come in many forms: husbands, wives, siblings, other family members and friends. Caregivers need recognize that they need to take breaks and time out for themselves as caregiving can often become very stressful over time.

8. Hospice care does not stop nor accelerate death and has no association with assisted suicide.

9. Terminally ill prisoners can find help through the National Prison Hospice Association.

10. According to the Hospice Foundation of America 885,000 people received hospice care in 2002.

PLUS ONE: If a person goes into remission or otherwise improves, they may leave hospice. If they become ill again, they may return.

Hospice is a reasonable alternative for persons who wish to die with dignity, without pain, in their chosen environment and on their own terms.