Interdisciplinary team, hospice

Fig. 1 The hospice interdisciplinary team. The patient, primary caregiver, and family are the focus of the hospice team s efforts in collaboration with the patient s primary physician. The core team is represented by the next circle away from the center. The support team is indicated by the outer circle. Community resources that support hospice care are listed outside that circle. Pharmacists serve on both the core team (second circle from the center) by providing direct pharmaceutical care to patients and families, and on the support level (next circle out from the center) by providing professional and public education about drug therapy in the care of terminally ill patients. (From Lipman AG, Berry JI. Pharmaceutical care of terminally ill patients. Journal of Pharmaceutical Care Pain and Symptom Control 1996 3(2) 31-56.)...

Participating in hospice interdisciplinary team meetings (chart rounds)... 

Hospices provide care for patients with advanced, irreversible disease and a life expectancy measurable in weeks to months as opposed to years. The defined unit of care is the patient and their family. The focus of care spans physical, psychological, social, and spiritual domains. This requires an interdisciplinary team. Nurses usually coordinate home visits and serve as team leaders. The patient s primary care physician normally continues to provide care, often in consultation with the hospice medical director. Other key members of the team are... 

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