Origins: international perspectives, then and now.

It was because a number of people took time to listen to patients and families facing mortal illness that the Hospice Movement has grown world-wide since it began in the 1960s. The addition of new skills in pain and symptom control, the understanding of the problems faced by families and the need for research and teaching has brought the old traditions in care and caring into the present day. It has shown that it can be relevant in many settings and cultures and in countries with widely different resources.