The hospice setting

Complementary therapy services have been developed in many hospices over the last twenty years. More recently, questions have been raised regarding which therapy or therapies should be used alongside orthodox medical treatment and who should be administering them. This chapter describes the development and evaluation of the professional service provided by nurse therapists at St. Christopher's Hospice in the United Kingdom. Complementary therapies have been available to patients free of charge at St. Christopher's for a number of years but only in the previous two years has the formalisation of what is offered become central to the establishment. This chapter examines how and why this formalisation of the complementary therapy service has come about, highlights the risks and rewards of such a venture, shares some findings of a recent qualitative research study, and articulates some very real challenges for the future. Despite the lack of evidence; the difficulties regarding who should be providing them; and issues regarding training, support, and supervision; people say that complementary therapies are important to them during the progression of their terminal disease.