A Review and Considerations on Palliative Care Improvements for African Americans With Cancer

Abstract

Hospice and Palliative care benefits are infrequently realized by African American patients with cancer. With the increasing recognition of the critical role of early utilization of palliative services for optimal and quality patient care, it is important to acknowledge disparities and barriers to access that minority patients may face. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the status of palliative care delivery for African American patients within the structure and framework of the clinical practice guideline domains established by the National Consensus Project for Palliative Care. This perspectives paper describes the different aspects of palliative care and the interplay with African American culture. Here, we also attempt to identify the multilevel barriers (health care system and provider level) to palliative care among African Americans as a required step toward decreasing the disparities in access, coverage, utilization, and benefit of palliative care. Furthermore, this paper may serve as an educational guide for health care workers who care for African American patients with cancer.

Inequities in access to palliative and end-of-life care in the black population in Canada: a scoping review

“…Similarly to our review findings, evidence points to disparities in access to palliative care for Blacks with life-limiting illnesses [ 34 , 36 ]. Thus, sustained and culturally responsive actions are needed to address this growing inequity.…”

“…Thus, sustained and culturally responsive actions are needed to address this growing inequity. These actions will include, among others, interventions to address the financial, organizational, social, and cultural barriers to service use identified in this review, as well as by studies with Black populations in other high income countries [ 35 , 36 , 38 , 49 ]. Additional actions to reduce disparities in access to palliative care include building trust in the formal health care system [ 50 , 51 ], dismantling anti-Black racism [ 52 ], and increasing the number of Black clinicians, educators, and researchers in palliative care [ 53 , 54 ].…”

Access to Palliative Care Consultation for Hospitalized Adults with COVID-19 in an Urban Health System: Were There Disparities at the Peak of the Pandemic?

“…[7][8][9][10][11] In our study, we sought to identify predictors of PC consultation for adults hospitalized with COVID-19 during the initial pandemic surge in New York City. Given the widely recognized prepandemic disparities in access to PC and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Hispanic and Black patients and those living in poverty, [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] we examined disparities in PC referral during a crisis. Understanding these referral patterns is crucial to ensuring patients have equitable access to PC consultation.…”