Who are our clients? A profile of a community-based Buddhist hospice

One of the ongoing challenges for those involved in the hospice movement is to find ways of effectively extending the provision of hospice services to all in need. Pragmatic, empirical research that provides information on the present and potential hospice population is essential to foster the development of services if this challenge is to be met. This discussion presents a descriptive profile of the clients of a community-based Buddhist hospice in Brisbane, Australia, known as the Karuna Hospice Service (KHS). This descriptive profile makes a contribution to the important task of establishing where we currently are, in the hope that this will begin to delineate where fresh energy needs to be directed in the future.