The Beginnings of Hospice Care in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review the situation in communist and post-revolutionary Czechoslovakia in the area of palliative care. It will familiarize readers with the enormous efforts of two big personalities in the history of Czech health care: Marie Opatrná and Marie Svatošová, who tried to change the old and inconvenient Soviet health care system and make the care of terminal and dying people more human. A t the end, it will present some challenges which the current Czech hospice care is confronted with.