Since November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, ACSCAN is asking members of Congress to support the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA). This act would serve to improve the quality of life for all patients of all ages living with cancer.

What is the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act?

The Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) is a bipartisan bill that would create a national public education and awareness campaign. This campaign would educate providers and patients about the availability of palliative care and expand federal research in relevant areas, including pain/symptom management. In addition to starting an educational campaign, this act would establish training programs for medical providers across the nation.

What is palliative/hospice care?

Palliative care is specialized care for patients with serious illnesses such as cancer or heart failure. Palliative care focuses on treating symptoms and managing stress to improve a patient’s overall quality of life. 

Hospice care is provided at the last phase of a patient’s disease. Hospice can provide symptom control, spiritual care, coordination of care, family meetings to keep a patient’s family informed on their condition, and bereavement care once the patient has passed on. 

Both palliative and hospice care share the same goal: to improve a patient’s quality of life. 

Why is PCHETA important?

PCHETA is important because palliative and hospice care affect a patient’s quality of life at the end of their battle. PCHETA also enhances a patient’s satisfaction with care and helps control costs for the rapidly expanding population of individuals with serious illness or multiple chronic conditions. For example, the training programs alone would help train all interdisciplinary health professionals in palliative care, seeing as palliative care requires several types of health professionals, including social workers, health providers, physician assistants, nurses and chaplains. Increasing the number of healthcare professionals trained in palliative care would bolster the accessibility and affordability of this type of care.

How can you get involved?By clicking this link and filling out the form, you can sign a petition, urging your lawmakers to co-sponsor the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act. Learn more here.