Reprinted with Permission from the Birmingham Medical News.

On July 23, 2018 the United States House of Representatives passed HR 1676 approving grants to improve educational programs, research and workforce development in palliative medicine. Many outside the health care community, and even some inside the health care community, have little to no understanding of the purpose of palliative care. According to the proposed legislation, there will be no more than a 1 percent growth in the is physician workforce in 20 years while the persons eligible for palliative care will grow by over 20 percent. The proposed grants are intended to assist in developing a source of educators and health care providers to address this lack of resources and knowledge. The legislation known as the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act creates grants in several areas and amends the Public Health Service Act.

In most cases, the grants would be awarded to Palliative Care and Hospice Education Centers ("Center") who can establish that they meet specific requirements. In order to receive the funding, the Center must establish that it will improve training of health professionals in palliative care, develop and disseminate curricula relating to palliative treatment, support training and retraining of faculty to provide instruction in palliative care, support continuing education of health professionals who provide palliative care to patients, provides students with clinical training in palliative care in long term care facilities, home care, hospices, chronic and acute disease hospitals and ambulatory care centers, and establish traineeships for individuals preparing for advanced education nursing degrees, social work or physician assistant studies with a focus on palliative care.

Download the full article "U.S. House Passes Bill To Improve Workforce Development in Palliative Care" written by Angie Cameron Smith.