Upstate Carolina Medical Center will present a free community seminar - HealthTalk - on hospice, Thursday, March 22, 6-7 p.m. in the hospital's cafeteria. Internal medicine physician and geriatrics specialist Howard Klickman, M.D., will be the guest speaker.

Co-sponsoring the event is Hospice Care of South Carolina. The public is invited to attend.

"Even though hospice has been around for a very long time," hospital Marketing Director Steve Wong said, "It is still a concept that not everyone knows about or understands. With this HealthTalk, we hope to answer some questions and present a clear and accurate picture of what exactly hospice is."

According to Hospice Care of South Carolina, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization defines hospice as a team-oriented approach to expert medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support expressly tailored to the patient's needs and wishes. Support is extended to the patient's loved ones, as well. At the center of hospice is the belief that everyone has the right to die pain-free and with dignity, and that families will receive the necessary support.

Hospice is not a place where people go to die, but a concept of care. Care is provided where the beneficiary lives, allowing families to be together when they need it most, sharing the final days in peace, comfort, and dignity.

The first hospice facility was founded by Dame Cicely Saunders in 1967, just outside of London, England. It was distinctive in providing care for patients with a limited life expectancy, allowing them to be in charge of the treatment methods. Patients could eat and sleep when they wished, and were treated with respect and dignity. In the United States, the first freestanding hospice facility, Connecticut Hospice, was opened in 1971 in New Haven. From the beginning, U.S. hospice facilities placed greater emphasis on providing care in home settings, which allowed relatively few hospice professionals to meet the needs of many terminally ill patients.

In 1977, the National Hospice Organization (NHO) was formed to support the hospice philosophy of care, educate the public, and to serve as an information provider among a growing number of hospices. Hospice Care of South Carolina seeks to alleviate the fears most commonly associated with the diagnosis of a terminal illness- the fear of helplessness, of becoming a burden to the family, or the fear of overwhelming medical costs. With the assistance of compassionate end-of-life professionals, patients and families do not have to walk this journey alone.

Dr. Klickman is board certified in internal medicine, and he has a special interest in geriatrics (the healthcare of senior citizens). He is a graduate of the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University of Chicago. He is in practice at Internal Medicine Associates of Gaffney, along with Michael Dale, M.D., and Donald McIntosh, M.D.

A light evening meal will be provided prior to the seminar. However, seating is limited. Anyone interested in attending is asked to pre-register by calling 487-4271.