Racial/ethnic perspectives on the quality of hospice care

• Published in: American journal of hospice & palliative medicine Vol. 30; no. 4; p. 347
• Main Authors: Campbell, Cathy L, Baernholdt, Marianne, Yan, Guofen, Hinton, Ivora D, Lewis, Erica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.06.2013
• Subjects: African Americans - psychology; African Americans - statistics & numerical data; Caregivers - psychology; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (U.S.) - economics; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (U.S.) - standards; Cross-Sectional Studies; European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; European Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data; Healthcare Disparities - economics; Healthcare Disparities - ethnology; Hospice Care - organization & administration; Hospice Care - standards; Hospice Care - trends; Humans; Length of Stay; Pain Management - standards; Palliative Care - organization & administration; Palliative Care - standards; Palliative Care - trends; Patient Satisfaction - ethnology; Quality Indicators, Health Care - economics; Quality Indicators, Health Care - standards; Quality Indicators, Health Care - trends; Reimbursement Mechanisms - standards; Social Support; Southeastern United States; United States; Southeastern United States; United States; symptom management; emotional support; racial–ethnicity; hospice; satisfaction; quality
• ISSN: 1938-2715
• DOI: 10.1177/1049909112457455

Diversity in the US population is increasing, and evaluating the quality of culturally sensitive hospice care is important. A survey design was used to collect data from 743 patients enrolled in hospice or their family members or caregivers. Race/ethnicity was not significantly associated with any of the hospice interventions or outcomes. Patients were less likely to be satisfied with the overall hospice care (OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.065-0.796, P = .021) compared to other type of respondents.  Satisfaction with emotional support was substantially associated with the increased likelihood of satisfaction with pain management (OR = 3.82, 95% CI = 1.66-8.83, P = .002), satisfaction with other symptom management (OR = 6.17, 95% CI = 2.80-13.64, P < .001), and of overall satisfaction with hospice care (OR = 20.22, 95% CI = 8.64-47.35, P < .001).