Bill Text: HI SCR142 | 2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Health To Convene A Working Group To Examine Palliative Care Services And Develop Recommendations To Expand Palliative Care Services In Hawaii.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-04-24 - Received notice of reconsideration, Senate agreement, and Adoption (Sen. Com. No. 830). [SCR142 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2018-SCR142-Amended.html
THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
142 |
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, palliative care specializes in the
management of physical symptoms, including nausea, pain, fatigue, and shortness
of breath, as well as the emotional and spiritual distress caused by serious,
chronic, or terminal conditions; and
WHEREAS, palliative care is defined by the
World Health Organization as an approach that improves the quality of life of
patients and their families facing the problems associated with
life-threatening illness through the prevention and relief of suffering by
means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain
and other problems, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual; and
WHEREAS, studies have shown that patients
who had hospital-based palliative care visits spent less time in intensive care
units and were less likely to be readmitted to the hospital after returning
home; and
WHEREAS, in 2000, less than twenty-five
percent of hospitals in the United States had a palliative care program, but by
2015, sixty-seven percent of hospitals in the country with fifty or more beds
reported having palliative care teams; and
WHEREAS, the American Cancer Society Cancer
Action Network advocates for policies that improve the lives of cancer patients
by making treatment of pain and other symptoms and coordination of patient care
standard protocol throughout a patient's treatment for cancer, starting at the
point of diagnosis; and
WHEREAS, Kōkua Mau, Hawaii's hospice
and palliative care organization, is a community benefit, nonprofit
organization, composed of individual and organizational champions and
supporters from hospitals, education, consumers, insurance, long-term care, and
hospices; and
WHEREAS, efforts to increase the use and
availability of palliative care services in Hawaii require public health care
providers, advocates, and facilities to come together and discuss the
challenges and issues faced by palliative care programs; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Health,
Kōkua Mau, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, and other
community partners are all committed to improving the quality of life through
palliative care for people in Hawaii; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the
Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the House
of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to
convene a working group, with the assistance of Kōkua Mau and the American
Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, to examine palliative care services and
develop recommendations to expand palliative care services in the State; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working
group is requested to collaborate with hospice and palliative care
organizations, healthcare associations, health care facilities, insurers,
patient advocacy groups, and other interested public health groups; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working
group is requested to examine and identify:
(1) The current state of palliative care services offered in Hawaii;
(2) The capacity of current palliative care providers;
(3) The geographic areas where significant gaps in palliative care services exist;
(4) Opportunities to collaborate with key stakeholders who are positioned to craft a strategy and plan for improving and expanding the provision of high-quality palliative medicine and palliative care services in Hawaii;
(5) The feasibility for financial support of a long-term expansion of palliative care services in Hawaii;
(6) A plan for ongoing data gathering for purposes of monitoring and quality improvement of palliative care in Hawaii;
(7) Engagement strategies for educating the public about palliative care and hospice care to empower people to make informed decisions about wishes for care when faced with a serious illness; and
(8) Any other strategies that would improve palliative care services in Hawaii; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working
group is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations,
including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty
days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2019; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that subsequent to
the submission of its report to the Legislature, the working group may convene
annually or as necessary to discuss and update its findings and
recommendations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified
copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health,
Executive Director of Kōkua Mau, and Director of the American Cancer
Society Cancer Action Network.
Palliative Care Services; Working Group; Department of Health