World Hospice and Palliative Care Day

The word hospice is a Latin word "hospitium" which means guesthouse, referring to a place of shelter for weak and sick travelers returning from religious pilgrimages. In the 1960s, Dr. Cicely Saunders, British Physician began the modern hospice movement by establishing St. Christopher''s Hospice near London. A team was organized at St. Christopher''s for professional caregiving. This was the first program to use modern pain management techniques to care for people with chronic illness.