Can we build hospice for true equality of care?

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Whatever your opinion of the BLM movement, it has thrust the topic of true equality into a searing national spotlight – and has prompted many of us to reflect more deeply on the issue.

In addition to risk factors regarding COVID-19 and minority populations, equality considerations have sparked renewed discussions on glaring disparities in healthcare across key demographics. Hospice and palliative care professionals have recognized for decades that minority populations greatly underutilize their valuable services. Recent Medicare data shows that of their members who died on hospice care, only 37.1% of African Americans received the service, 38.8% of Hispanic/Latino descent and 34.5% of Asian descent (compared to 51.2% of Caucasians).

In this special podcast episode, Ronit Elk, PhD – Professor in the School of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology and Palliative Care at University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) – talks with host Stan Massey about an important research project and pilot program she has been leading. The subject is developing culturally based protocols for palliative care and hospice, with the goal of better engagement and access for minority populations.

Dr. Elk and Stan discuss why the origins of traditional hospice care in America may not be an ideal fit with minority populations, the disconnect that can happen between the medical world and cultural beliefs, the influence of community in minority populations – and how such factors informed her process to develop protocols based on individual cultures. Protocols developed from her research currently are being applied through a pilot program in Beaufort, South Carolina, a rural area with a significant African American population.

In addition to her position at UAB, Dr. Elk is associate director of the Southeast Institute for Innovation in Palliative Care and Supportive Care. She also served as guest editor on “Palliative and End of Life Care for African Americans” in a special issue of Journal of Palliative Medicine.

Dr. Elk was born in Israel (but moved to many countries during her youth because her father was an Israeli Ambassador to Turkey, India, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa). She has been a U.S. resident for more than 30 years yet maintains a global perspective on serious illness, death and dying.