Issues of Access in a Diverse Society

SUMMARY

Hospices are successful in addressing the needs of middle class, white, elderly persons with cancer who have family members able to care for them at home. However, there is a need to provide better access to care within diverse settings and for diverse populations. Ethnic minorities, marginalized persons and those without stable home environments or living in nontraditional ways are not well served by hospice at the present time. To improve access to hospice care, hospices need to address the distinctive profiles of their staffs and make them more inclusive and representative of the total community for their service area, create a broad range of programs of outreach, build bridges with other programs, develop expanded resources to manage the needs of patients and families, and train volunteers and staff to work in non-traditional home settings. [Article copies available from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: [email protected]]

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul R. Brenner

Paul R. Brenner is Executive Director, Jacob Perlow Hospice, Beth Israel Health Care System, New York City. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of the New York State Hospice Association and is a member of the AIDS Resource Committee of the National Hospice Organization.