EQUITY + ACCESS IN END-OF-LIFE CARE
Hospice Giving Foundation believes everyone deserve the best possible care through end of life. Yet, we know that is not the reality for many. There remains a great deal of work to ensure equitable access and quality end-of-life care, respecting culture, ethnicity, and family traditions, is available throughout our communities. HG Foundation is committed to this vision.
Scholars, writers, and scientists are working to understand the disparities in the healthcare system. This page includes articles, online resources, and TED Talks that provide informative and inspiring analyses and offer guidance to help us gain insight.
JOURNAL ARTICLES,
WHITE PAPERS + STUDIES
Note: clicking links will download articles.
OPINIONS + EDITORIALS
Racial disparities in end-of-life care — how mistrust keeps many African Americans away from hospice
Note: clicking links will download articles.
LINKS TO
ARTICLES + BOOKS
Letter to the Field on Recent Events
June 2, 2020 | By Diane E. Meier
We in palliative care are colleagues with shared values about the worth and dignity of each human life, and our community must be united against the racism that is killing our fellow humans.
Using Palliative Care to Support Equitable Care in the Midst of COVID-19
Updated June 15, 2020 | By Stacie Sinclair and Brittany Chambers
An overview of COVID-19-related health and health care inequities for African Americans, palliative care’s role in caring for impacted patients and families, and CAPC tools to support these efforts.
How to Increase Awareness and Reduce Gaps in Palliative Care for Minorities
Updated July 9, 2020 | By Brittany Chambers
The disparities in palliative care access and quality for minorities in the United States, and ways to remedy this.
Death is a Social Justice Issue: Perspectives on Equity-Informed Palliative Care
Reimer-Kirkham, Sheryl PhD, RN; Stajduhar, Kelli PhD, RN; Pauly, Bernie PhD, RN; Giesbrecht, Melissa PhD; Mollison, Ashley MA; McNeil, Ryan PhD; Wallace, Bruce PhD
Too often, palliative care services are not responsive to the needs of those who are doubly vulnerable. In this article, we argue for a reorientation of palliative care to explicitly integrate the premises of health equity. (note full article available for a fee or subscription)
Is There Such a Thing as Equity In Dying?
Published February 16, 2017 | by Michael Booth
With so many challenges in finding equitable ways for Coloradans to live, it should come as no surprise there are troubling challenges in finding equitable ways to die.
There Are Racial Disparities In End-of-Life Care, Too
Published December 19, 2017 | by Judy Stone
Many studies have shown racial disparities in health care, from access to treatment to different outcomes for similar illnesses.
How To Address Racial Disparities in End of Life Care
Published April 20, 2019 | by Lillian Mehran
Everyone needs health care at some point in their lives, but access to care and quality of care varies widely. Scholars find pronounced disparities along racial lines, compounded by various other inequalities such as those by income, education, gender, immigration status, insurance coverage, and patterns of clinician bias.
Note: clicking the above links will take you away from HG Foundation’s website.
TED TALKS
Tackling Ethnic Health Disparities
Lisa Cooper | TEDxBaltimore 2014
Dr. Cooper is an internationally recognized health services researcher and medical educator at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She has developed interventions that enhance patient-physician communication, improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare disparities. She is a 2007 recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Award.
Sociologist David R. Williams: How Racism Makes us Sick
David R. Williams | TEDMed 2016
Why does race matter so profoundly for health? David R. Williams developed a scale to measure the impact of discrimination on well-being, going beyond traditional measures like income and education to reveal how factors like implicit bias, residential segregation and negative stereotypes create and sustain inequality. In this eye-opening talk, Williams presents evidence for how racism is producing a rigged system — and offers hopeful examples of programs across the US that are working to dismantle discrimination.