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Palliative Care Specialist
Provides comfort and quality of life for patients with serious, life-limiting illnesses.
Did you know?
In 1967 Dame Cicely Saunders opened St Christopher's in London, the world's first purpose-built hospice, launching the modern hospice movement.
How subjects help
- Biology: Understand how a serious illness progresses so you can prepare the patient and family.
- Psychology: Help patients cope with fear and sadness and find moments of peace and joy.
- Philosophy: Think through hard questions about what matters most to a patient near the end of life.
- Communication: Share difficult news gently and listen closely to what a patient really wants.
A famous name
Cicely Saunders: Founded St Christopher's Hospice in London in 1967, starting the modern hospice movement.
Try it yourself: Practise listening the SHUSH way
- Ask your partner to talk for three minutes about something ordinary and happy, like the best day they've had this year.
- Listen the SHUSH way: Show you care (phone away, look at them), Have patience, Use open questions ("Tell me more"), Say it back to check you understood, and Have courage to let a silence happen.
- Don't interrupt or offer a solution: just listen.
- Swap roles. If there is a third person, they watch and say which SHUSH tip they saw each of you use.
Social workers, counsellors and mediators spend much of their day listening carefully like this, so people feel heard before anyone talks about what happens next.
Adapted from Samaritans: DEAL: developing listening skills (SHUSH listening tips).
Also try: Choose colours for a feeling.
Known for it in
UK, Australia, USA, Canada, Belgium