Abstract · Abstract This study provides an overview of the peculiar relationship which 21st century people have to death. It sums up the paradoxical, dual nature of our society's attitude to death, emphasizing the difference between the perception, thinking, and behaviour of today's society to that of earlier times in terms of death. The study also discusses what kind of change in attitudes could overcome the tremendous internal tension within our society, a tension which is weighing on us every day with because of the severity of this topic.

Abstract · In Hungary, home nursing care and home-based hospice care are forming and developing in close contact with each other, almost simultaneously. The legal, economic and social environment that determines their operation is very similar. Both areas are dedicated to quality work and patient-oriented care. Despite their similarities however, there are many differences between the two types of professional care. The modification of Government Decree 43/1999, which entered into force on 1 October 2008, meant the inclusion of hospice care within professional care; as a result of which many service providers originally involved in home nursing care decided to offer hospice services starting from 2009, as well. This study seeks to explore the future of the two fields by comparing their differences and similarities.

Abstract · There are a number of false, extreme ideas about the final, terminal phase of life, which presuppose either the predominance of negative events, or the absolute dominance of positive emotions. These views receive support not only from the popular literature, but also from the scientific literature (due to the misinterpretation of statistical results). These views and expectations place an additional heavy burden on incurable patients who are already physically and mentally frail. The study therefore tries to draw a more subtle picture of the potential and the role of positive and negative events and emotions in the lives of seriously ill patients. The author argues that negative emotions are natural in the process of dying and mourning, but positive emotions are often needed in order to be able to cope with those negative emotions, so it is very important to create a humane balance between the two of them. Creating this balance is only possible in personalized care, where the patient's personality and values are recognised and respected. The author – a psychologist at the Hungarian Hospice Foundation – discusses several case studies which epitomize the positive development of seriously ill patients, and argues that these stories corroborate an idea of Cicely Saunders, according to which, hospice not only helps the patient to die in peace but also to live a full life up to the last moment of his life (Chochinov, 2006: 101).