The time after 1945

Abstract

Summarizing extant research and drawing on new unpublished and printed material as well, this chapter outlines the renaissance of palliative medicine and terminal care after World War II. Responding to the particular needs of dying patients (and their families), which authors like Elisabeth Kübler-Ross had brought to the fore, Cicely Saunders, Balfour Mount and many others created hospices for the dying, palliative care centers within hospitals and out-patient services for terminally ill patients. Based on a multidisciplinary approach and combining the best possible medical treatment of pain and other symptoms with emotional and spiritual care, they developed the model of “total care” which is still at the heart of palliative medicine today.