Hospice

The first hospice in Shanghai supported by the grant from Li Ka Shing Foundation was founded on June 20, 2001. Fourteen years have passed so far. The hospice has provided full range of professional services to almost 6,000 advanced stage cancer patients.

There are about 60,000 newly diagnosed cases of cancer in Shanghai every year. About four in every 1000 shanghai citizens will have newly diagnosed cancer every year, which means 162 additional cases of malignant tumor every day on average. As the number of cancer patients is increasing, an important issue bothering both many doctors and family members of the patient is about how to allow them to leave with peace and dignity at their last moment of life.

The Hospice of Shanghai Xinhua Hospital aims to “provide people-oriented whole person services for the purpose to improve the quality of life of advanced stage cancer patients”. For the incurable diseases, the goal is “to respect and keep the dignity of patients, relieve their pain and sufferings, mitigate discomfort symptoms, and provide whole person, whole family, full course, whole team, and whole community support and care”. Patients and their family members evaluate the services in our hospice as very nice and humane, which makes it unnecessary for the patients unable to move freely to suffer from the torment and troubles when going to and from hospital. Some of the patients we have served or their family members have devoted plenty of goods to make contribution to the society, which will enable more cancer patients at advanced stage to feel the care from others.

Since March 2015, the Hospice of Shanghai Xinhua Hospital and Shanghai Kindness & Wisdom Public Foundation have jointly launched the “Hospice Care” initiative for the purpose to provide loving companionship and spiritual care for cancer patients at their end of life, through multi-party cooperation involving doctors, nurses, social workers and volunteers. Meanwhile, the family members of the patient are supported with emotional and spiritual sustenance. On the National Day of 2015, Xinhua Hospice successfully launches a public charity walking activity entitled “Kindness Lives in the Wise People” in Shanghai Haiwan National Forest Park with the help and support of numerous volunteers. The activity is to improve social awareness of and concerns about the quality of life of advanced stage cancer patients.

The Hospice of Shanghai Xinhua Hospital participated in the practical “Palliative or Holistic Care” initiative sponsored by Shanghai Municipal Government in 2012. Our hospice was designated as “Shanghai Training Base for Palliative Care” to undertake the 3-year training sessions for home-based palliative care. A total of more than 780 healthcare professionals from 36 health service centers across Shanghai have received such training. We have actively promoted such home-based palliative care in the communities in Shanghai. We also work with the Division of Primary Healthcare, Shanghai Health and Family Planning Commission to formulate the charter for regulation of home-based palliative care for advanced stage cancer patients in communities in Shanghai.

The Hospice of Shanghai Xinhua Hospital provides not only spiritual and economic supports to the impoverished patients to benefit more cancer patients, but also professional service at last difficult moment of their life to relieve their pain and sufferings, improve the quality of life of patients, and make both the living and the dead really leave no regret.