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Study: Minority End-of-Life Care Lacking

Posted on: Friday, 16 March 2007, 18:00 CDT

California minority groups are significantly less likely to receive end-of-life care at a hospice, a new U.S. study says.

In 2004, 74 percent of those who died while receiving hospice services were white, while only 4 percent were Asian-American, 6 percent were African-American, and 15 percent were Latino, according to a report released Friday by the California HealthCare Foundation.

Hospice care is considered the gold standard in treatment in the last few months of life -- for patients and their families -- but a combination of cultural and cost issues mean it is much more common among the white population, the study found.

African-Americans and Latinos tend to want access to acute care in the last few weeks of life that Medicare does not cover for hospice patients, the researchers said.

When minority individuals die in hospitals, as opposed to hospice care, they are less likely to get organized palliative care for symptom relief and improved quality of life, the study added. In particular, the under-treatment of pain is prevalent among the elderly, poor, and racial and ethnic minorities.

Source: United Press International

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