November 15, 2019

EveryStep Spearheads Hospice & Palliative Care Month Proclamation Effort

November is a busy month for EveryStep as the organization recognizes National Hospice & Palliative Care Month. 

As one of Iowa’s oldest and longest-serving non-profit care providers, EveryStep will spend the month raising awareness of the options available to help people find care and support in the comfort of their homes during times of recovery or serious illness.

To that end, the organization spearheaded an initiative asking Gov. Kim Reynolds to proclaim November to officially be Hospice & Palliative Care Month in Iowa. Today, Gov. Reynolds did just that, signing a proclamation surrounded by EveryStep employees and volunteers. 

Thank you for recognizing the care and support EveryStep Hospice, and all hospice care providers, give to patients in the state. 

WHEREAS, hospice care offers specialized medical care and services which center around enabling patients to live in comfort, without pain, surrounded by people who care; while their families also receive counseling and support; 

WHEREAS, the hospice model is about more than dying, it is about living the rest of your life to the fullest with dignity, in the comfort of home; 

WHEREAS, the hospice model relies on a team-oriented, compassionate approach involving nurses, social workers, aides, volunteers, volunteer coordinators, pharmacists, spiritual care and bereavement counselors, physicians, and other health care professionals. In 2017 Medicare found that than 19,000 Iowans were direct beneficiaries of hospice care, that 38 percent were from rural Iowa communities, and Iowans received more than 1 million days of compassionate care;

WHEREAS; the palliative care model focuses on providing patients with relief from the pain, symptoms and stress of illnesses; and hospice care reaffirms our belief in the essential dignity of every person, regardless of age, health, or social status; 

 WHEREAS, hospice and palliative care providers, such as EveryStep Hospice, are advocates for these Iowans, educating them on their future care options through advance care planning, allowing them to choose the care they want at the end of life; 

WHEREAS, hospice and palliative care professionals promise to put patients first, ensuring a coordinated and patient-led approach to care, protecting patient choice and access to individualized services based on a patient’s unique care needs and wishes.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Kim Reynolds, Governor of the State of Iowa, do hereby proclaim November 2019 as Hospice and Palliative Care Month in Iowa and encourage members of the public to increase their understanding and awareness of care at the end of life and to observe this month with appropriate activities and programs.