Table 4.

Definitions for “palliative care,” “supportive care,” and “hospice care” from print and online dictionaries

Print Dictionaries	Palliative care and palliative medicine	Supportive Care and Best Supportive Care	Hospice and hospice care
McGraw-Hill Allied Medical Dictionary (2008)	Palliative care. 1. Care based on the principles of hospice care, to enable persons with terminal diseases or conditions to receive assistance, therapy, comfort, and guidance before their illness progresses to the hospice stage. 2. Any care given to ease pain or distressing symptoms without treating the cause.	Supportive care. No entry	Hospice care. Physical, psychological, social, and spiritual care administered to dying patients and families
	Palliative medicine. No entry	Best supportive care. No entry	Hospice. A facility that provides hospice care and care itself
Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary (2007)	Palliative care. No entry Palliative medicine. No entry	Supportive Care. No entry Best supportive care. No entry	Hospice care. No entry Hospice. A facility that provides palliative and supportive care for terminally ill patients and their families, either directly or on a consulting basis
Black's Medical Dictionary (2009)	Palliative care. The comprehensive care of patients and families facing terminal illness, focusing primarily on comfort and support. Such care includes:	Palliative medicine. No entry	Hospice care. No entry
	–careful control of symptoms, especially PAIN –psychosocial and spiritual care –a personalised management plan centred on the patient's needs and wishes –care that takes into account the family's needs and that is carried into the bereavement period –provision of coordinated services in the home, hospital, day-care centre and other facilities used by the patient	Best supportive care. No entry	Hospice. A hospital that cares only for the terminally ill and dying. The emphasis is on providing quality of life, and special care is taken in providing pain relief by whichever methods are deemed best suited to the person's needs. Hospice care in the UK has been greatly developed, generally funded by a combination of the NHS and charitable funds, with activities supported by voluntary workers
	Palliative medicine. No entry
Mosby's Medical Dictionary (2009)	Palliative care. No entry	Supportive care. No entry	Hospice care. No entry
	Supportive medicine. No entry	Best supportive care. No entry	Hospice. A system of family centered care designed to assist the terminally ill person to be comfortable and to maintain quality of life through the phases of dying. Hospice care is a multidisciplinary and includes hoe visits, professional health care available on call, teaching and emotional support of the family, and physical care of the client. Some hospice programs provide care in a center, as well as in the home or in a nursing home. Hospice also offers bereavement counseling for the family
Stedman's Medical Dictionary (2006)	Palliative care. No entry	Supportive care. No entry	Hospice care. No entry
	Palliative medicine. No entry	Best supportive care. No entry	Hospice. An institution that provides a centralized program of palliative and supportive services to dying people and their families, in the form of physical, psychological, social and spiritual care; such services are provided by an interdisciplinary team of professionals and volunteers who are available in the home and in specialized inpatient settings
Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (2009)	Palliative care. No entry	Supportive care. No entry	Hospice care. No entry
	Palliative medicine. No entry	Best supportive care. No entry	Hospice. An interdisciplinary program of palliative services that address the physical, spiritual, social, and economic needs of terminally ill patients and their families. This care may be provided in the home or a hospice center
Online Dictionaries	Palliative care and palliative medicine	Supportive care and best supportive care	Hospice and hospice care
MediLexicon (2011)	Palliative care. No entry	Supportive care. No entry	Hospice care. No entry
	Palliative medicine. No entry	Best supportive care. No entry	Hospice. 1. An institution that provides a centralized program of palliative and supportive services to dying people and their families, in the form of physical, psychological, social, and spiritual care; such services are provided by an interdisciplinary team of professionals and volunteers who are available in the home and in specialized inpatient settings. Source: Stedman's Medical Dictionary 28th Edition, Copyright© 2006 Lippincott
Medical Dictionary (WebMD, 2011)	Palliative care. Syn. Palliative treatment. Treatment to alleviate symptoms without curing the disease	Supportive care. No entry	Hospice care. No entry
	Palliative medicine. No entry	Best Supportive care. No entry	Hospice. 1. An institution that provides a centralized program of palliative and supportive services to dying people and their families, in the form of physical, psychological, social, and spiritual care; such services are provided by an interdisciplinary team of professionals and volunteers who are available in the home and in specialized inpatient settings. Source: Stedman's Medical Dictionary 28th Edition, Copyright© 2006 Lippincott
MedlinePlus Medical Dictionary (2011)	Palliative care. No entry	Supportive care. No entry	Hospice care. No entry
	Palliative medicine. No entry	Best supportive care. No entry	Hospice. A facility or program designed to provide a caring environment for meeting the physical and emotional needs of the terminally ill. Source: Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, 2011
The Free Dictionary: Medical Dictionary (2009)	Palliative care. An approach to health care that is concerned primarily with attending to physical and emotional comfort rather than effecting a cure. Source: Jonas: Mosby's Dictionary of Complementary and Alternative Medicine	Supportive care. medical and other interventions that attempt to support and make comfortable rather than to cure. Source: Jonas: Mosby's Dictionary of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (c) 2005, Elsevier.	Hospice care. No entry
	Palliative medicine. No entry	Best supportive care. No entry	Hospice. A program or facility that provides palliative care and attends to the emotional, spiritual, social, and financial needs of terminally ill patients at a facility or at a patient's home. Source: The American Heritage Medical Dictionary, Copyright @ 2007, 2004, Houghton Mifflin. Hospice Care. No entry Hospice. A program under medical direction and nurse coordination that provides a variety of inpatient and home care for individuals who are terminally ill and their family members; provides calming and accommodating care that meets the special needs arising from the variety of stresses experienced during the final phases of illness, death, and grieving (e.g., emotional, physical, social, economic, and spiritual). Source: Mosby's Dental Dictionary, 2nd edition. © 2008 Elsevier, Inc.