Hospice and Palliative Care: What Unites Us, What Divides Us?

The terms hospice and palliative care are often used interchangeably in Canada. However, these words have distinct histories, from which the authors explore their ideological roots. Questions are posed concerning the impetus to combine these terms-to unite compatible ideologies or perhaps to mask the potentially divisive differences between the two. The modern development of the hospice palliative care movement in Canada is reviewed in the context of a social movement. Here again, questions are posed: Is this a social movement that has reached its conclusion with the mainstreaming and medicalization of palliative care? Finally, the effects of mainstreaming and medicalization are explored in terms of their impact on the interprofessional team: Who benefits and who stands to lose disciplinary ground? An approach to forward vision and movement in the field is posed, which, rejecting a binary posture, invites a curiosity toward the question of what divides and unites us in the care of the dying.