Terminally ill patients who are minorities are less likely to choose hospice care than whites, according to a recent report.. In 2005, 82 percent of those receiving hospice care were white, while 7.5 percent identified themselves as black or African-American according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. This compares to the nation as a whole, where 75 percent of the country is white and 12 percent is black, according to the Census.
African-Americans seek hospice care less often due to cost, health insurance factors and a sense that they are being denied medical care on the basis of race, according to experts. According to John Radulovic of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, "Some people think that if a doctor wants them to stay home and not come into the hospital, that the medical system isn't truly concerned about them."
Some hospices are trying to reach more African-American through church programs, since African-Americans look to their faith communities for support during serious illness, according to Radulovic.
Other hospice groups are trying to reach out to minority Hispanic commminties by providing Spanish-language materials.
1. One of the reasons hospice care may not be a first choice for ethnic minorities is the lack of cultural sensitivity evidenced by employees, primarily RNs. My family did not use hospice services until the final three days of my mom's illness. At that point, the RN who responded demonstrated an elitist and condescending attitude towards the family and our home. Happily, we did not need to see her any more than twice. The social workers were much more pleasant to work with, but they come into play only after death.
I know my mother would never have consented to placement in an offsite hospice, and was reluctant to have them come to the house. I contacted them when it became clear to me that she was nearing the end. She wanted to die at home, and hospice is good for providing the paperwork necessary for avoiding transport of the body to a coroner and unwanted autopsy. People who die at home, under the care of a supervising physician, can have the death certificate signed by that physician and the body removed directly to the mortuary for final disposition.
If this information was clearly made available in more venues than just the church, because not all ethnic minorities attend church, and if it was more widely known that hospice services can be provided at home, the services might be more widely sought out and used by cultural minorities who continue to cling to the old ways and ideas about caring for their sick and dying at home, surrounded by family and familiars.
Posted at 4:20PM on Jul 22nd 2007 by VJ