安寧療護的原始名稱為「驛站」，是指一個為了旅途勞累的朝聖者而設的「休息站」。現在的安寧療護則代表了一個多專長的醫療團隊，對於各種的末期病患提供了一種多專業的緩和性醫療照護，相對於傳統醫療所強調的根治性醫療。許多神經科疾病都是不可治癒且常都是長期的疾病，這種特質讓這些病患比其它疾病的患者嚐受了更多的煎熬與折磨。雖然三十多年前當安寧緩和醫療剛開始的時候，大部分的治療對象都集中在癌症末期的病患上。然而隨著安寧緩和醫療概念的推廣普及，與安寧緩和專科醫學的設立之後，安寧療護的對象也漸漸的擴展到了所有的疾病末期的病患，其中也包括了神經科疾病的末期病患。神經科的專科醫師們大約從十五年前開始，就陸陸續續的將一些特定的神經科情況以及神經科疾病，界定為只有安寧緩和醫療才是適合這些病患的醫療照護方法。這些特殊病況與疾病包括了：1 持續性的植物人狀態。2 愛滋病末期。3意識狀態的病患但具深度的或是無法回復的麻痺狀態。4 嚴重的中風。5 高頸椎脊髓傷害。6閉鎖症候群。7 重度失智症。8 重度多發性硬化症。9進行性無法治癒的神經肌肉性疾病譬如運動神經原疾病。然而在我們神經科的臨床領域裡，仍然有不少的疾病沒有被列入以上的名單當中。例如巴金森氏症，脊髓小腦萎縮症，Duchenne肌肉萎縮症以及神經性梅毒等等疾病，都需要神經科醫師們提供更舒適的臨終照護，來改善這些末期病患的生活品質與維護其最後的尊嚴。
The term “hospice” has historically been used in relation to inns and lodges where weary travelers could find a respite from their journey. Today, “hospice palliative care” refers to a multidisciplinary team providing a special type of care to terminally ill individuals. There are numerous neurological diseases that are incurable and chronic in nature, which cause suffering in patients that is typically more prolonged than in patients with other terminal diseases. The early hospice movement, which began about thirty years ago, targeted terminal cancer patients almost exclusively. However, with the spread of the hospice concept and the formalization of the field of palliative medicine, the definition of hospice palliative care has grown to cover endof- including the life care for all kinds of terminally ill diseases-terminal stages of neurological disorders. Beginning some fifteen years ago, neurologists began defining which urological conditions and disorders for which palliative care represented the preferred treatment option.Today, these include patients with the following conditions: 1. comatose; 2. AIDS; 3. profound and irreversible paralysis with retained consciousness and cognition; 4. severe stroke; 5. high cervical spinal cord lesions; 6. locked-in syndrome; 7. advanced dementia; 8. advanced MS; and 9. progressive and incurable neuromuscular diseases such as certain motor neuron diseases and muscular dystrophies. However, there remain other neurological diseases not yet included on this list which have been shown to benefit greatly from hospice palliative care in our clinical practice. Many patients in the terminal stage of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, spino-cerebellar disorders, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, neurosyphilis, and so on are in urgent need of more suitable end-of-life care from neurologists in order to improve their quality of life and provide necessary dignity.
