Charitable hospice care for cancer patients launched in Shanghai

A public welfare service program providing hospice care for cancer patients in the late stage of care was launched in Shanghai on Thursday, and will involve a series of plans to ease the pain of patients and their families both physically and psychologically.

The program brings together different aspects such as nursing, companionship and psychological counseling and will be guided and conducted by doctors of the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and professional psychological consultants. Volunteer recruitment started at the same time.

Organized by the Life Care Community of Fu Shou Yuan International Group, China's largest cemetery and funeral service provider, and the Shanghai Hospice Care Health Service Center, it will deliver help and support to patients and help them improve their life quality in the final chapter of their life.

In China, several million people die every year due to cancer, causing distress and pain for nearly 10 million families.

The program aims to raise awareness of the needs of families of cancer patients and help them get through the toughest period, organizers said.

It will mainly target needy families with financial difficulties or physical disabilities with free service provided.

As elsewhere, discussing end of life care is an uncomfortable topic for many Chinese, and hospice care, which began in the 1960s in the United States and Europe, is still a new concept here.

It highlights the comfort and dignity of patients in the later stage of their lives.