Literature Review

Radio Interview: A conversation with a black Catholic artist (and hospice leader)Catholic Review Radio; 11/12/23Wayman Scott IV ... is an up-and-coming Black Catholic artist based at Baltimore Clayworks whose works are gaining national and international attention. A former youth minister at St. John in Columbia who also served as a chaplain and grief counselor at Gilchrest Hospice, Scott infuses both his Catholic faith and his African-American heritage into his work. He currently serves as associate director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Gilchrist and GBMC Health Partners.

In 2024, data will drive IFDHE's discussions on health equityAmerican Hospital Association (AHA) Institute for Diversity and Health Equity (IFDHE), by Joy Lewis; 1/12/24For the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity, 2024 can be summed up in a single phrase: “letting the data speak and guide us.” Data is critical to eliminating health disparities and advancing equity, diversity and inclusion and serves as the starting point. Data shines a light on the experiences of different patient populations who are accessing care. With data, we are able to see different outcomes for these groups, broken down by race, ethnicity, gender, insurance status or socioeconomic status. Data provides context about our patients’ experiences and health outcomes so we might see where the gaps are that need to be closed. Our mission, then, is to make data actionable. This year, we will embark on several initiatives to provide us with the data — both qualitative and quantitative — that will help us take our necessary next steps.

Bayard Rustin: Why MLK's right-hand man was nearly written out of historyHistory.com, by Thaddeus Morgan; 1/2/24Bayard Rustin was an indispensable force behind the civil rights movement, and openly gay. ... To the hundreds of thousands who were bused to Washington for the [August 28, 1963] March [on Washington for Jobs and Freedom], Rustin was synonymous with the movement. After all, he was the march’s chief organizer.Editor's Note: Learn more by viewing Rustin, the biographical drama film released via Netflix on November 3, 2023.

Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief, in Routledge's Series in Death, Dying and BereavementRoutledge, Series in Death, Dying and Bereavement, edited by Darcy L. Harris and Tashel C. Bordere; pub. 2016, available The Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief is a scholarly work of social criticism, richly grounded in personal experience, evocative case studies, and current multicultural and sociocultural theories and research ...  at the very junctures when people are most vulnerable—at points of serious illness, confrontation with end-of-life decision making, and in the throes of grief and bereavement. Harris and Bordere give the reader an active and engaged take on the field, enticing readers to interrogate their own assumptions and practices while increasing, chapter after chapter, their cultural literacy regarding important groups and contexts.Editor's Note: Are you eager to take a deep dive into Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in our worlds of loss and grief? Immerse yourself in this definitive, thanatological (the study of dying, death, and bereavement) research and its applications for you.

We were here: Black infant loss in D.C. - A three part series on black infant mortality in the Dsitistrict. Who's at risk and why?Washington CityPaper, by Candace Y. Montague; 12/23Between 2014 and 2020, more than 330 Black infants died in D.C. before their first birthdays. Recent perinatal reports show this problem isn’t going away anytime soon. Washington City Paper is taking a closer look at why this crisis hits the Black community in D.C. so hard, how it affects families and clinicians, and who is working to prevent infant loss. This series is being produced as a project for the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2023 National Fellowship.

Washington, D.C., needs to address hospice care utilization disparitiesThe Washington Informer, by Donna Gayles and Audrey Easaw; 1/13/23Our nation’s capital ranks high in many things, from access to outdoor activities and number of museums to its ethnic and cultural diversity and vibrant LGBTQ+ population. But the city lags far behind in one key area: hospice care utilization. While on average, just under half of Medicare decedents are in hospice care at their time of death, in the District of Columbia, only 25% are – ranking lower than 49 of the 50 states.

Sutter Health announces its first-ever Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer; Dana Beckton to drive diversity, equity and inclusion strategy and initiativesGlobeNewsire; 11/29/23... Beckton will lead the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy for the California-based integrated health system, while serving as a key member of Sutter’s Executive Leadership Team. She will work directly with Sutter Health President and CEO Warner Thomas and interim Chief Human Resources Officer Gail Lerch to drive DEI programming and initiatives.   

Ethnicity and palliative care: we need better data - five key considerationsBMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, by Gemma Clarke, Jamilla Akhtar Hussain, Matthew John Allsop, and Michael I Bennett; 12/23 Complete and valid ethnicity data are essential for monitoring racial and ethnic disparities but consideration needs to be given to collecting data well and using it responsibly. ... Holism is at the core of palliative care, in the approach to a person and their ‘total pain’. Extending this framework to ethnicity data engenders a responsibility across both the collection and usage of data. We outline five key considerations informed by this framework relating to ethnicity data.

Hospice of the Western Reserve targeting $75,000 grant to address racial disparitiesCleveland.com Community News, by John Benson; 12/14/23Hospice of the Western Reserve applied for and recently received a Three Arches Foundation grant, with the intent to address healthcare inequity. Providing end-of-life care, caregiver support and bereavement services throughout Northern Ohio, the nonprofit was recently awarded $75,000 to expand outreach and address racial disparity in utilization of in-home, pre-hospice palliative care for patients with advanced serious and progressive illness.Quotes Heidi L. Barham, Hospice of the Western Reserve Manager of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Black caregivers' symptom management, cultural, and religious experiences with home hospice careJournal of Pain and Symptom Management, by Taeyoung Park, Danetta H Sloan, Dulce M Cruz-Oliver, Manney Cary Reid, Sara Czaja, Ronald D Adelman, Ritchell Dignam, Veerawat Phongtankuel; 8/23 Objectives: This study seeks to address this knowledge gap by applying qualitative methods to understand Black/African American caregivers' experiences around symptom management, cultural, and religious challenges during home hospice care.

Black ownership provides a different perspective on hospice careMichigan Chronicle, by Ebony JJ Curry; 10/10/23... In essence, Black-owned hospices stand as beacons of trust, understanding, and respect within the African-American community. They have the power to transform end-of-life care for African Americans, ensuring it is a time of peace, dignity, and compassion, surrounded by providers who understand and honor their cultural context, values, and wishes.

The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are. ~C.S. Lewis

What is palliative care?Money, by Bianca Rodriguez Rojas; 1/4/24Palliative care is a healthcare approach that aims to provide comfort and improve the quality of life of people diagnosed with a serious or life-threatening disease such as cancer, heart failure or Parkinson’s.Editor's note: Interesting this appeared in Money magazine...