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Are there Racial Differences in Attitudes Toward Hospice Care? A Study of Hospice-Eligible Patients at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York

Center for Home Care Policy & Research, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York, peri.rosenfeld{at}vnsny.org

Jeanne Dennis, MSW

Hospice Care, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York

Suzanne Hanen, MS, GNP, APRN-BC, CHPN

Palliative Care Project, Hospice Care, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York

Ernesto Henriquez, BA

Center for Home Care Policy & Research, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York

Theresa M. Schwartz, BA

Center for Home Care Policy & Research, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York

Lyla Correoso, MD

Hospice Team, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York

Christopher M. Murtaugh, PhD

Center for Home Care Policy & Research, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York

Alan Fleishman, MD

New York Academy of Medicine, New York, New York

Research on African American and white attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge of hospice care has focused predominantly on patients and providers in institutions and community-based care settings. Little is known about patients receiving home health services, despite growing trends toward noninstitutional care in the United States. This study of home health clients who are eligible for hospice, but not currently receiving it, found few differences between racial groups with regard to attitudes about end-of-life care. An alarming proportion of African American and white home health clients held erroneous ideas about hospice care and had not discussed this option with their providers. These findings suggest that increased referrals to home-based hospice care among home health clients depend on the availability and professional dissemination of accurate, spiritually sensitive information.

Key Words: home health services • visiting nurse services • racial disparities • knowledge of hospice • attitudes toward end of life

This version was published on November 1, 2007

American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®, Vol. 24, No. 5, 408-416 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1049909107302303


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