Key Topics on End-of-Life Care for African Americans

An intellectual discourse derived from The Last Miles of the Way Home 2004 National Conference to Improve End-of-Life Care for African Americans

ABSTRACT: Historical Perspectives on Racial Attitudes and the Impact of Health Care Disparities on End-of-Life Care in the African American Community   [Print Version]

Harold Freeman, MD
Ralph Lauren Cancer and Prevention Center
New York, NY

And

Richard Payne, MD
Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life
Duke University Divinity School
Durham, NC

Racial classifications of human populations are politically and socially determined. There is no biological or genetic basis for these racial classifications.

Health behaviors may be influenced by culture and poverty. Disparities in health outcomes, sometimes resulting in higher mortality rates for African Americans appear to influence end of life decision-making attitudes and behaviors. To improve the quality of end-of-life care in African American communities, health care professionals must better understand and work to eliminate disparities in health care, increase their own skills, knowledge and confidence in palliative and hospice care, and improve awareness of the benefits and values of hospice and palliative care in their patients and families.

In Collaboration With:
Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life
Initiative to Improve Palliative Care for African Americans (IIPCA)