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Integrating Palliative Care into the Chronic Illness Continuum: a Conceptual Model for Minority Populations

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Abstract

Although the use of palliative care has increased in recent years, chronically ill Americans within a racial/ethnic minority (non-White) population underutilize this supportive and comfort-giving healthcare service. Consequently, chronically ill minority Americans experience increased pain, symptom burden, and inappropriate use of healthcare resources compared to their white counterparts. A literature review was conducted to compile and synthesize the current state of research pertinent to improving the use of palliative care among chronically ill minority Americans. Selection criteria produced 18 relevant publications, which aided in developing a conceptual model that assimilated early, episodic, and late palliative care phases along the chronic illness continuum. The goal of the conceptual model was to provide a roadmap for healthcare professionals to use when designing, implementing, managing, and/or evaluating palliative care services for chronically ill minority Americans. The literature review demonstrated that minority patients benefitted the most from culturally tailored, systematic interventions (such as advanced care planning education) in all phases of palliative care, which led to increases in advance directive completion, better symptom control, and hospice utilization. The article concludes with a discussion and fictional case study portraying the importance of culturally tailored early palliative care as a catalyst for engaging minority patients in palliative care services.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Glenn Ostir and Dr. Lovoria Williams for their assistance with the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Augusta University, 1905 Barnett Shoals Road, Athens, GA, 30605, USA

    Shena Gazaway

  2. Augusta University, 978 St. Sebastian Way, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA

    Merry Stewart & Autumn Schumacher

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  1. Shena Gazaway
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  2. Merry Stewart
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Correspondence to Shena Gazaway.

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Gazaway, S., Stewart, M. & Schumacher, A. Integrating Palliative Care into the Chronic Illness Continuum: a Conceptual Model for Minority Populations. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 6, 1078–1086 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-019-00610-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-019-00610-y

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