Which statement best describes hospice’s support for emotional and spiritual needs?

Which statement best describes hospice’s support for emotional and spiritual needs?

• A. Hospice care includes emotional and spiritual support for both patient and family.
• B. Spiritual support is never provided in hospice.
• C. Spiritual support is optional and rarely offered.
• D. The focus is only on physical symptoms.

Answer: (A)

Hospice care uses a holistic approach that addresses more than just physical symptoms. It includes emotional and spiritual support for both the patient and the family, recognizing that comfort and quality of life come from tending to mind, heart, and spirit as well as the body. An interdisciplinary team—nurses, doctors, social workers, chaplains or spiritual counselors, and others—works together to provide this support, and families are offered bereavement help as well. This makes the statement true because spiritual care and emotional support are standard parts of hospice, integrated into the plan of care. The other options don’t fit because hospice does provide spiritual and emotional support, it is not optional or rarely offered, and the emphasis is not solely on physical symptoms.

Hospice care uses a holistic approach that addresses more than just physical symptoms. It includes emotional and spiritual support for both the patient and the family, recognizing that comfort and quality of life come from tending to mind, heart, and spirit as well as the body. An interdisciplinary team—nurses, doctors, social workers, chaplains or spiritual counselors, and others—works together to provide this support, and families are offered bereavement help as well.

This makes the statement true because spiritual care and emotional support are standard parts of hospice, integrated into the plan of care. The other options don’t fit because hospice does provide spiritual and emotional support, it is not optional or rarely offered, and the emphasis is not solely on physical symptoms.