Unit XII

Text 1

I. Read the article and say why it is headlined in this way:

Saying Good-Bye to This World

Hospice is not a very common word for Russia. The modern hospice movement — the provision of homes for terminally ill patients where they spend their last days — was born in Britain. The first among them was an establishment founded in 1967 by Lady Cicely Saunders with her own money. She named it after St. Christopher. A few years ago, on the initiative of Victor Zorza, a British journalist, hospices began to appear in this country. Today there are 22, seven of them in St.Petersburg and one in Moscow.

To whom does the hospice provide care? Information comes in concerning prospective patients from area outpatient clinics, or from district oncologists or general practitioners. An application must be submitted with a case report and diagnosis. Some patients need palliative institutional treatment.

Patients are only admitted here in the following cases. First, those who suffer from an intractable pain syndrome, when no home medication can help. In this event, they are placed under round-the-clock observation and an effective anesthetic plan is selected. Personnel here know that relatives of these patients need temporary relief. Second, special attention is given to lonely people and those who live in communal apartments. For the majority of them this cozy home with a quiet courtyard is a heavenly place, if it is appropriate to say so about a

English for Psychologists and Sociologists

Sociology. Unit XII

hospice. After spending a week or two here, many do not want to leave, regarding the discharge as an act of cruelty.

Although the furnishings and the equipment in this home for the terminally ill show that the Moscow authorities have invested considerable funds in this project, the city budget is still limited. Just like British hospices, Russian ones count on philanthropists. One firm provides writing paper; another provides flowers and someone to look after them; a fourth donated fixtures and fittings for the bathrooms.

Unlike its London counterpart, the Moscow hospice has a house call service. Doctors, nurses, a social worker, a lawyer, and a psychologist visit patients in their homes. They provide medical and social assistance, including patient care, apartment cleaning, meal preparation, buying food, assistance in executing legal documents. There are many things to do, and so the service tries to mobilize the patient's relatives, neighbors, and colleagues.

II. Find in the text sentences containing information on:

1. Hospices in Britain.

2. Categories of patients admitted to hospices.

3. A house call service.

III. Give definitions of the following words and word- combinations:

Hospice; terminally-ill patient; round-the-clock obser­vation; temporary relief; philanthropist; counterpart.

IV. Answer the following questions:

1. Where was the modern hospice movement born?

2. When was the first hospice established?

3. How many hospices are there in the world today?

4. Whom does the hospice provide care for?

5. In what cases are the patients admitted to the hospice?

6. Do hospices exist on the philanthropic grounds?

7. What specialists take care of the terminally ill patients?

V. Copy out all the word-combinations relating to major characteristics of hospices.

VI. Review the article. Use copied out word-combi­ nations in your review.

VII. Express your own opinion of the necessity of hospices.

VIII. Conduct an interview with a terminally ill pa­ tient.

Text 2

I. Read the article and say why everybody is sure that AIDS is becoming a major killer in the world.