American Hospice Foundation, Washington DC, USA

There are many reasons why patients with a terminal illness choose hospice care.

Two common reasons are:

• Patients decide they no longer want to go through curative treatments that are difficult and painful, or that require them to go into a hospital.
• Patients want to stay at home, spend time with those they love and be in a more peaceful, familiar and comfortable space.

A core principle of hospice care is to respect the wishes of patients and their family at all times. This includes, of course, respecting patients' wishes about how and where they want to die.

However, it can be hard for very sick patients to stay at home, unless they get expert help. Hospice provides the care and support needed to make this possible.