Pioneer Of The Death Education Movement ~ Cicely Saunders

"Dame Cicely Mary Strode Saunders OM DBE FRCS FRCP FRCN (22 June 1918 – 14 July 2005) was an English nurse, social worker, physician and writer. She is noted for her work in terminal care research and her role in the birth of the hospice movement, emphasizing the importance of palliative care in modern medicine".

"Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by reducing pain and suffering. Hospice care provides an alternative to therapies focused on life-prolonging measures that may be arduous, likely to cause more symptoms, or are not aligned with a person's goals".

"The goal of hospice care is to prioritize comfort, quality of life and individual wishes. How comfort is defined is up to each individual or, if the patient is incapacitated, the patient's family. This can include addressing physical, emotional, spiritual and/or social needs. In hospice care, patient-directed goals are integral and interwoven throughout the care.[3] Hospices typically do not perform treatments that are meant to diagnose or cure an illness but also do not include treatments that hasten death.[1]"

Dame Cicely Saunders is truly a pioneer of the Death Education Movement, as she knew the importance of  improving the care and treatment towards the end of life.  

Cicely Saunders Interational