Everyone has a role to play in speaking out for better hospice and palliative care policies. But for many providers, participating in legislative advocacy can be intimidating. How do you get started? Who has the time? Can you really make a difference? At this year’s NHPCO IDC Virtual Conference, three MyHospice Ambassadors discussed these issues, sharing their experiences and insights as frontline providers and frontline advocates.
Trey Gibson encourages advocates to not shy away from showing emotions when telling their stories. “It’s okay to cry. Bring some tissues,” he says. “It’s hard for me to tell Emilie’s story without my nose twitching. I miss her terribly, and that’s okay.”
“Emilie’s illness felt like a race in many ways,” Trey Gibson recalls, “At one point during that race, someone asked me about how things were going, and I replied that I don’t like to lose.” After Emilie’s death, the Gibsons were determined to continue Emilie’s legacy. “My wife Candi and I just decided that we needed to keep running. We needed to contribute. We didn’t want our daughter to die in vain.”
We Honor Veterans (WHV) is an ideal example of a program that can connect hospice care—including patients, families, and providers—with their members of Congress.
I never expected to be talking to congressional staff on my second day of work. I especially didn’t expect to sit in on meetings with congressional staff during one of HAN’s biggest weeks of the year, “Hospice Action Week”.
On Wednesday, June 7 hospice and palliative care advocates from across the nation made a difference and presented a united voice in Washington, DC. As a part of the annual Hospice Action Hill Day, over 70 NHPCO and HAN advocates gathered to make legislative visits on Capitol Hill in support of key policy priorities impacting…
