New Health Equity Guide Provides a Roadmap to Transform Care for Black Patients with Serious Illness
Having medical concerns dismissed, not being believed when reporting pain, and facing multiple barriers to care are just three of the experiences reported to the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) in a focus group of Black patients with serious illness. In fact, when Black people in the United States are living with a serious illness like cancer, heart failure, or dementia, they experience disproportionately high suffering compared to white patients—often due to poor pain management, low-quality communication from their care teams, and high family caregiver burden.
To address these inequities, the CAPC has released a new, comprehensive guide, Advancing Equity for Black Patients with Serious Illness, to equip palliative care leaders and health equity change agents with practical tools to implement meaningful change. Drawn from research, examples of health equity initiatives from across the country, and the wisdom of health equity leaders, the guide provides a practical roadmap for transforming care for Black patients, and their families and caregivers.
"The work of advancing health equity in serious illness has never been more urgent, nor has its impact been more essential. CAPC is committed to empowering health care teams to make health equity an achievable goal,” said Brittany Chambers, MPH, MCHES, CAPC Director of Health Equity and Special Initiatives. “This guide provides actionable steps to advance equitable care for Black patients with serious illness, propelling us toward a system where health equity is not just a goal, but a reality.”
The guide outlines a process for creating sustainable health equity interventions, including the needs assessment; patient / caregiver engagement; intervention design and partnership development; business and operational planning; making the case for funding or support; and data collection and evaluation. It also offers advice on how to overcome adversity and find community while engaging in this meaningful and challenging work.
Download the guide, which is part of CAPC’s Health Equity toolkit.
Media requesting more information or an interview with an expert at the Center to Advance Palliative Care may contact John Zoccola at 267.664.2759 / [email protected]
About the Center to Advance Palliative Care
The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) is a national organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality, equitable health care for people living with a serious illness. As the nation’s leading resource in its field, CAPC provides health care professionals and organizations with the training, tools, and technical assistance necessary to effectively meet this need. CAPC is part of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. For more information, visit capc.org and follow @CAPCpalliative.
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