Literature Review

Mississippi Capitol sees second day of hundreds rallying for ‘full Medicaid expansion now’Mississippi Today - Legislature; by Bobby Harrison and Geoff Pender; 4/17/24Hundreds of people rallied at the Mississippi Capitol for a second day Wednesday, urging lawmakers to expand Medicaid to provide health coverage for an estimated 200,000 Mississippians. ... Speakers recounted their struggles with access to affordable health care in Mississippi and chanted for the Legislature to, “Close the coverage gap now,” and for “Full Medicaid expansion now.” ... [Dr. Randy] Easterling recounted a story of two of his friends diagnosed with similar cancers. One was uninsured and self-employed, and did not get early diagnosis or treatment. He’s now in hospice and on death’s door. The other friend, with insurance, received an early diagnosis and treatment and is now cancer free.

Modern Healthcare's Diversity Leaders Awards: Nominate a diverse leader Modern Healthcare; 4/12/24 The Diversity Leaders in Healthcare awards program takes great pride in honoring the healthcare executives and organizations working to further equity and inclusion at their organizations and in the overall industry. ... [Click on the title's link for Individual and Organizational Awards' Dates, Eligibility, Criteria, Required Materials, and more] 

The HAP Foundation conducts research study on Black Americans’ experience with serious illness care in ChicagoThe HAP Foundation, by Rachel French; 4/9/24 The HAP Foundation and NORC at the University of Chicago have completed a joint research project to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of Black Americans around serious illness care in Chicago. Through a community-based participatory research design, narratives from Black individuals living in Chicago were captured by focus groups and in-depth interviews. “Community-Based Study: Prioritizing Dignity and Respect in End-of-Life Care for Black Chicagoans” is being distributed widely to health care providers and the community to encourage conversations and create change in behavioral patterns during end-of-life care.Editor's Note: Click here for this downloadable, 17 page booklet.

Anti-DEI initiatives in medicine harm us all MedPage Today - Perspectives; by Aderonke Pederson, MD; 4/9/24I entered into medical school as a top student at the University of Chicago with a high GPA ... and a stellar CV exhibiting strong leadership qualities. I had beaten all odds, despite being a Black orphan migrant with no financial means. Medical school was a grueling process ... I would likely have felt even more socially isolated at my predominantly white institution if not for three essential factors. First, I was welcomed by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) administrators and participants ... Second, I had a dean of DEI who... said, "You can do this, Ronke." Finally, without my deep faith, ... I would not be where I am today. My experience is not unique from other underrepresented physicians of color. Despite this, DEI programs across the country are under attack.

Medicaid expansion and palliative care for advanced-stage liver cancer Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery; by Henrique A Lima, Parit Mavani, Muhammad Musaab Munir, Yutaka Endo, Selamawit Woldesenbet, Muhammad Muntazir Mehdi Khan, Karol Rawicz-Pruszyński, Usama Waqar, Erryk Katayama, Vivian Resende, Mujtaba Khalil, Timothy M Pawlik; dated 4/24/28 (for print) Conclusion: The implementation of ME [Medicaid expansion] contributed to increased rates of palliative treatment for patients residing in ME states after expansion. However, racial disparities persist even after ME, resulting in inequitable access to palliative care. 

New Federal Health IT Strategy sets sights on a heathier, more innovative, and more equitable health care experienceU.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 3/28/24The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), today released the draft 2024–2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan (the draft Plan) for public comment. The draft Plan: 

Community convening aims to guide solutions to inequities in caregiving UMass Chan Medical School, by Susan E.W. Spencer; 3/26/24Jennifer Tjia, MD, MSCE, knows from her experience as a researcher and geriatrician how demanding the role of caregiver can be and how structural barriers impact patient outcomes. She wants to see research that drives solutions to health inequities. The second community convening of the Equity in Caregiving Project, a $3.8 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, which Dr. Tjia, professor of population & quantitative health sciences, co-leads, aims to advance the conversation about what challenges family and clinical caregivers of people with serious illness are experiencing.

Why California doesn't know how many people are dying while homelessKQED, by Vanessa Rancano; 3/25/24 The grants manager and his team at Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless knew people were dying on the streets, but they wanted more than anecdotal evidence; they wanted data that could show them the big picture and help them hone their strategies. ... Alameda County’s latest homeless mortality report is now prompting the team to focus on how to extend palliative care services to unhoused people with terminal illnesses. Garlin estimates almost one-fifth of those who died in 2022 would likely have been eligible for hospice care.

Massachusetts makes paid family leave more accessible, offering services in Spanish, Portuguese New England Public Media, by Elizabeth Roman; 3/22/24... The state passed a law in 2018 which provides paid family and medical leave (PFML) for serious injury or illness whether personal or a family member, as well as time for parental leave, but found that people whose primary language is not English were unaware of, or hesitant, to apply for the services. ... While the state portal for applying for PFML services now has options in various languages, some people are still overwhelmed by filling paperwork out online. ... There are representatives who speak Spanish and Portuguese and the state also works with an interpretation service for many other languages.

Racial/ethnic differences in care intensity at the end of life for patients with lung cancer The ASCO Post, by Matthew Stenger; 3/21/24 The study used data from the California Cancer Registry linked to patient discharge data abstracts. The primary outcome measure was intensity of care in the last 14 days before death, with greater intensity defined as any hospital admission or emergency department visit, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, intubation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), hemodialysis, and death in an acute care setting. ... The authors concluded: “Compared with [non-Hispanic White] patients, [Asian/Pacific Islander], Black, and Hispanic patients who died with lung cancer experienced higher intensity of [end-of-life] care. Future studies should develop approaches to eliminate such racial and ethnic disparities in care delivery at the [end of life].”

Palliative Care Movement achieves significant progress in California California Health Care Foundation, by Claudia Boyd-Barrett; 3/19/24 ... Palliative care has taken root in California over the past 15 years, driven by hundreds of leaders within health plans, hospitals, clinics, home care agencies, advocacy and education organizations, and state government. ... Some of California’s greatest palliative care progress has been accomplished in programs serving people at the lowest income levels through the state’s Medi-Cal program and through public health care systems.

'It's been really inspiring': Grace House continues end-of-life care despite challenges Akron Beacon Journal, by Kelsie Horner; 3/13/24Through a flood and financial challenges, an Akron nonprofit has continued to provide end-of-life care and companionship for people who might otherwise die alone. Since opening its doors 1½ years ago, Grace House has cared for 66 residents during their final days. ... Grace House is one of only three organizations in the nation to provide free, “non-barrier” end-of-life care for people who are unhoused or alone.

Healthcare access dimensions and racial disparities in end-of-life care quality among ovarian cancer patients Cancer Research Communications; by Shama Karanth, Oyomoare L. Osazuwa-Peters; Lauren E. Wilson, Rebecca A. Previs, Fariha Rahman, Bin Huang, Maria Pisu, Margaret Liang, Kevin C. Ward, Maria J. Schymura, Andrew Berchuck, and Tomi F. Akinyemiju; 3/5/24 This study investigated the association between healthcare access (HCA) dimensions and racial disparities in end-of-life (EOL) care quality among Non-Hispanic Black (NHB), Non-Hispanic White (NHW), and Hispanic patients with ovarian cancer (OC).