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Home > Arhiva > 2019 > Numar: 1 > Disparities in Access to Hospice for Minority Groups: A Summary of Barriers and the Challenges of Clinical Social Workers as Caring Bridge

 Disparities in Access to Hospice for Minority Groups: A Summary of Barriers and the Challenges of Clinical Social Workers as Caring Bridge

    by:
  • Erica Goldblatt Hyatt (The State University of New Jersey. School of Social Work. Rutgers. E-mail: Erica.Goldblatt.Hyatt@rutgers.edu)

Research indicates that disparities exist in the access of hospice and palliative care between White majority and minority populations. Minorities living in federally-designated medically-underserved areas may face barriers accessing these services for a variety of reasons originating from within and outside these communities. Furthermore, research has not explored the experiences of hospice social workers in medically-underserved areas straddling the worlds of hospice institution and outpatient home environments. This article explores and synthesizes relevant literature around medically-underserved minorities’ access to hospice and offer solutions for social workers bridging majority White hospice institutions and medically-underserved minority patients.

Keywords: medically-underserved populations; minorities; health equity; access to care; disparities