This thread invites comments, queries and dialogue on any relevant topics from anyone.
Introducing the Buddhist Hospice Trust & Ananda Network, Registered Charity No 298859, Established 1986..... (with material acknowledgements to "Help the Hospices" and "National Association of Hospice Fundraisers") www.helpthehospices.org.uk www.nahf.org.ukThe word 'hospice' was first used from the 4th century when Christian orders welcomed travellers, the sick and those in many kinds of need.
It was first applied to the care of dying patients by Mme Jeanne Garnier who founded the Dames de Calaire in Lyon, France, in 1842. The name was next introduced by the Irish Sisters of Charity when they opened Our Lady's Hospice in Dublin in 1879 and St Joseph's Hospice in Hackney, London(1905).
Dame Cicely Saunders' experiences while working at St Joseph's and at St Luke's Hospital (Home for the Dying Poor founded in 1893) led to the founding by her of St Christopher's Hospice in 1967.
Dame Cicely's (pictured opposite) personal influence was exercised with the late Ray Wills and Dennis Sibley, co-founders of the Buddhist Hospice Trust
www.buddhisthospice.org.uk in 1986, one of the handful of Buddhist organisations worldwide dedicated to the support of seriously, dying and bereaved people, their familes and friends, from a Buddhist perspective.
The growth pattern of hospices in recent years has been considerable; at first this was mainly in the independent, charitable sector. In the early 1970s capital grants were given to units built within NHS hospital grounds with health authorities taking over responsibility for their running costs.
Hospices and palliative care have developed in different ways, appropriate to the needs of patient and family - inpatient care, home care, day care and hospital services. The thrust of present-day provision is towards an extension of wholistic, person-centred End-of-Life care to everyone who needs it, including palliative care, outside hospices. Hospice deaths account for only about 4% of all deaths, and this proportion is declining.
Palliative care is linked synonymously with the hospice movement, because historically this is where it began, at St Christopher's Hospice in London in 1967. But palliative care is now provided within most healthcare settings to a greater or lesser degree.
The ethos of palliative care is centred around maximising a person's quality of life, easing symptoms but not influencing the outcome of a terminal disease, or effecting a cure. This can be achieved in a variety of ways, by effective symptom control, by offering psychological support, spiritual support where this is sought, or by providing respite care to name but a few.
The most important of all, however, is by truly allowing someone to be themselves at what can be an extremely difficult time in their lives. Palliative care strives to acknowledge the whole person - addressing all problems within different aspects of their life, using a multidisciplinary approach.
Such provision acknowledges that many people now wish to end their lives at home, rather than in a hospice or in hospital; provided of course that they can be cared for to the highest standard, their families supported, and that expert round-the-clock care is at hand when needed.
The Buddhist Hospice Trust - an all volunteer organisation - operates at three levels: first to 'be present, bear witness and befriend' people who ask for its help in time of need, from a Buddhist perspective, through its network of volunteers, the Ananda Network.
Second, it operates to provide a network of dharma-support and friendship (Ananda Network) to all who support its primary purpose of agenda-free friendship and spiritual companionship, building "Hospice In The Heart" - a commitment to personal openness, clarity and sensibility in the presence of death-in-life, our own and others.
Third, it engages collaboratively and dharmically with other agencies and individuals (bringing explicit Buddhist thought and practice to bear on research, dialogue and action) to develop and promote the hospice and palliative care movement at home and worldwide.
The Trust does not provide hospice or palliative care services; volunteers do not offer professional services either, although many have professional qualifications.
The Buddhist Hospice Trust is not affiliated to any particular Buddhist school, tradition or teacher, none is held as superior to another. It is open to all, Buddhists and non-Buddhists who support its purposes. Its services are available to all, Buddhists and non-Buddhists. For further details click on the link above or visit
www.buddhisthospice.blogspot.com
