Hospice care helps patients, families find peace when death nears

Published: 2005-05-18

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- "People die whether they are in hospice or not," said Deb Flaa, a registered nurse who works in education and development for HealthEast Hospice Care in St. Paul. "It isn't giving up. It's acknowledging the reality of the situation." Hospice provides physical, emotional and spiritual care for terminally ill patients and their families. It is available when a doctor has indicated that a patient's life expectancy is six months or less if the disease takes its normal course. Flaa said hospice is not a place, but a philosophy. It is getting back to the idea of family members caring for their dying loved ones, she said. "It's wonderful when you see families pulling together and being there for one another," she told The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

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