[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17209]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING NOVEMBER AS NATIONAL HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE MONTH

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                           HON. AARON SCHOCK

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 15, 2013

  Mr. SCHOCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize November as National 
Hospice and Palliative Care Month. Palliative care focuses on relieving 
the pain, stress and symptoms of a serious illness while hospice 
focuses on caring for a patient based on his or her own unique needs 
and wishes. In 2012, an estimated 1.6 million individuals received 
hospice services including home based care, continuous home care, 
general inpatient care for pain control or complex symptom management 
or inpatient respite care.
  Unlike care delivered at a hospital, the hospice team consists of a 
group of individuals whose goal is to provide support for both the 
patient and the patient's family. As the Safe Haven Hospice in Lincoln, 
Illinois says ``hospice is about adding life to [one's] days.''
  The U.S. hospice movement was founded by volunteers who play an 
instrumental role in hospice care. In 2012, an estimated 400,000 
hospice volunteers provided 19 million hours of service. One of those 
volunteers is a constituent of mine who became involved following the 
unexpected death of her son.
  Hospice volunteers like this individual support and enhance the 
hospice care team. In fact, hospice is the only provider whose Medicare 
Conditions of Participation requires volunteers to provide at least 5 
percent of total patient care hours.
  I urge my colleagues to recognize the important work of hospice and 
palliative care providers and volunteers in their communities during 
National Hospice and Palliative Month.

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