Bill Text: NJ AJR169 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Designates November 2017 as "Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month."
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-07-31 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee [AJR169 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-AJR169-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUNOZ
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Designates November 2017 as "Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Joint Resolution designating November 2017 as "Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month" in New Jersey.
Whereas, Hospice and palliative care, considered the model for quality care for people facing life-limiting illnesses, is a patient-centered, cost-effective philosophy of care that utilizes an interdisciplinary team of professionals and trained volunteers, including physicians, nurses, social workers, therapists, counselors, health aides, family caregivers, and spiritual care providers to deliver compassionate and expert medical care, pain management, caregiver training, emotional assistance, and spiritual support expressly tailored to the patient's needs and wishes; and
Whereas, Every year throughout the country, 1.6 million people living with a terminal diagnosis receive hospice and palliative care; and
Whereas, More than 430,000 trained volunteers contribute 19 million hours of service to hospice and palliative care programs annually; and
Whereas, At the center of hospice and palliative care is the belief that each of us has the right to die pain-free and with dignity, and that our families will receive the necessary support to allow us to do so; and
Whereas, Patients receive hospice and palliative care in their place of residence, nursing homes, residential or hospice inpatient facilities, and acute care hospitals. The location of care may change depending on the nature of the patient's disease progression, medical needs, or the plan of care established between the patient and the hospice program; and
Whereas, Studies have shown that hospice and palliative care reduces Medicare program expenditures during the last year of life by an average of $2,309 per hospice patient, and improves the quality of care received by Medicare beneficiaries; and
Whereas, For many years, hospice and palliative care professionals have known through firsthand experience that the interdisciplinary care they provide to patients and family caregivers coping with life-limiting illness significantly improves quality of life and allows people to focus on living as fully as possible even as life draws to a close; and
Whereas, It is important to raise public awareness about hospice and palliative care and to encourage the citizens of the State to increase their understanding of supportive, high-quality, end-of-life care before they or members of their families are confronted with a health care crisis or terminal diagnosis; now, therefore,
Be It
Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
1. The month of November 2017 is designated as "Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month" in New Jersey to raise public awareness about hospice and palliative care and to encourage the citizens of the State to increase their understanding of supportive, high-quality, end-of-life care before they or members of their families are confronted with a health care crisis or terminal diagnosis.
2. The Governor is respectfully requested to issue a proclamation designating November 2017 as "Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month" in New Jersey, and calling upon public officials and the citizens of the State to observe the month with appropriate activities and programs.
3. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly or the Secretary of the Senate to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
4. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This resolution designates November 2017 as "Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Month" in New Jersey to raise public awareness about hospice and palliative care and to encourage the citizens of the State to increase their understanding of supportive, high-quality, end-of-life care before they or members of their families are confronted with a health care crisis or terminal diagnosis.
