Low-threshold services
Hospice & Palliative Care
What is Hospice & Palliative Care?
- What is Hospice & Palliative Care for?
- Companionship and symptom relief in incurable illness and at the end of life
- Is Hospice & Palliative Care legally regulated?
- A multi-professional field of care, run by non-profit hospice organisations and the health system, coordinated by the umbrella organisation Hospiz Österreich.
- Does Hospice & Palliative Care treat illnesses?
- No curative treatment; relief of symptoms and companionship in incurable illness
Hospice and palliative care accompany people with an incurable, advanced illness and their relatives, in the last phase of life and in the time of grief. The focus is not cure but quality of life, freedom from pain, dignity and companionship.
Who is behind it
The care is multi-professional:
- medicine and nursing for symptoms and pain
- psychosocial support, social work and pastoral care
- volunteer hospice companions
Where services exist
- at home: mobile palliative and hospice teams
- in hospital: palliative wards
- inpatient: hospices
There is room for relatives too: relief, advice and grief support are part of it. The umbrella organisation Hospiz Österreich and regional hospice and palliative institutions are the first address and connect you with suitable services in your region.
What is allowed
- Relieve pain and distressing symptoms (palliative medicine and nursing)
- Accompany patients and relatives psychosocially, socially and spiritually
- Support at home, in a hospice or in hospital and coordinate services
- Relieve relatives and accompany them in grief
Where are the limits?
- No cure of the underlying illness
- No substitute for ongoing medical treatment, but a complement
- No active euthanasia
How to recognise quality
- Attachment to a recognised hospice or palliative institution
- A multi-professional team rather than a single provider
- Free, non-binding initial advice
- Clear information on services and funding
How it works
- Contactenquire with a hospice or palliative team in your region
- Clarify needsdiscuss together what is needed
- Companionshipmedicine, nursing and psychosocial support, at home or inpatient
- For relativesrelief and grief support, also beyond death
Costs & insurance
Mobile hospice and palliative teamusually free
Inpatient hospicelargely publicly funded, small contribution possible
Volunteer hospice companionshipfree