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September 2002, Vol 92, No. 9 | American Journal of Public Health 1386-1387
© 2002 American Public Health Association

LETTER

WOMEN OF COLOR AND END-OF-LIFE CARE

Karen Orloff Kaplan, ScD

Karen Orloff Kaplan is with the Last Acts campaign and Partnership for Caring, Inc, Washington, DC.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Karen Orloff Kaplan, ScD, Partnership for Caring, Inc, 1620 I St NW, Suite 202, Washington, DC 20006 (e-mail: kaplanko{at}partnershipforcaring.org).

I would like to thank the Journal for its April 2002 issue devoted to the health of women of color. The range of the articles underscores how much we know but also how far we have yet to go. In particular, I would like to call attention to one area of health care that requires greater attention from researchers and the public at large, that is, end-of-life care.

Improving care for the dying is the mission of Last Acts, a national communications campaign supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Begun in 1996, Last Acts works with more than 900 partners and 300 coalitions to improve care and caring near the end of life. The work focuses on enhancing professional education, institutional change, and public engagement to develop a health care system that supports treatment preferences and provides quality care at the end of life.

With all the knowledge we have acquired, information about how our health care system interacts with women of color, both as consumers of health care and as caregivers, is still mostly anecdotal. What we do know is that too many of these women are dying in pain and alone. In 2000, African Americans represented only 8% and Hispanics represented only 2% of all hospice patients. To improve this dismal situation more resources have to be dedicated to outreach and education at the community level.

In November 2001, Last Acts took a major step in the direction of focusing more attention on local communities by creating Rallying Points, a program to improve community end-of-life care through coalitions. Rallying Points is building on the work of state and local coalitions that grew out of the 2000 PBS series On Our Own Terms, hosted by Bill Moyers. By developing 3 regional resource centers and a national resource center on diversity in end-of-life care, we have committed to expanding the participation of women of color in the discussions about their end-of-life options and strengthening support for palliative care (treating the body, mind, and spirit to ease pain and other symptoms).

As the articles in the April 2002 issue of the Journal so clearly evidence, the story of the health of women of color is still unfolding. It is our hope that the voices of women of color who are nearing the end of life and the voices of their loved ones will be heard amid the cacophony of diversity. We would welcome the support and input of all your readers and writers.




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R. J. Johnson, T. J. Gallagher, and F. D. Wolinsky
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Research on Aging, March 1, 2004; 26(2): 259 - 283.
[Abstract] [PDF]

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