Racial disparities in end-of-life care — how mistrust keeps many African Americans away from hospice
Sharitta Berry was at Oakland’s Highland Hospital when she got the bad news in early 2018.
For Asians, Latinos, and other ethnic minorities, the end of life presents unique challenges. Language barriers and cultural traditions can often inhibit access to hospice, pain management, and comfort care.
Citing recent research, our Slow Medicine bloggers write that "we are still exposing far too many patients to an intensity of care at the end of life that leaves their family members with additional grief and regret."
Anne and Omar Shamiyeh first learned something was wrong with one of their twins during an ultrasound, when Anne was 18 weeks pregnant. "The technician was, like, 'Well, there's no visualization of his stomach,'" Anne recounted. "And I was like, 'How does our baby have no stomach?'"
A physician turns to fiction to show how demanding caring for a loved one in the period before death can be, and how difficult it is to infuse the process with dignity.
The nation spends billions on care for patients during the last year of life. And a recent IOM report found all that spending isn’t necessarily helping us live longer or better. Is there a better way to help patients nearing the end of their lives get the kind of care they prefer?
For most politicians dealing with Medicare reform, end-of-life cost is one issue that dare not speak its name. Here's what you need to know about this "third-rail" topic.
Bad air on school buses, the benefits of Medicaid, concerns over hospice care and more from our Daily Briefing.
End-of-life care is often the most expensive health care. Many people, when given the option, choose to opt out of experimental therapies and drugs as they approach death, but the current health care system structure incentivizes more care instead of less. So patients' wishes often get left out of the equation.
