Health

Racial Disparities in End-of-life Care; Many Are Unaware of Hospice Care (Part 2)

Published

8 years ago

December 14, 2018

For those nearing death, hospice care can help alleviate the pain, discomfort, and suffering that often accompanies the dying process. But for many African-Americans, “hospice” is misunderstood and is equated with “hastening death” or “giving up.”
Many are either unaware of hospice care or lack a clear understanding of what hospice is. Keeping hope alive is a strong part of African-American culture and surviving difficult times. Even though there’s little chance of full recovery, African Americans are more likely than whites to choose life-sustaining measures.
Far fewer African Americans utilize hospice compared to whites. Among Medicare beneficiaries who died in 2010, 45.8 percent of whites used hospice compared to 34 percent of African Americans.
Survival at all costs is part of African-American culture that can be traced back to the days of slavery. The country’s long history of racism and poverty included unequal access to medical care. To this day, some suspect that the health care system is limiting their treatment options.

Rev. Cynthia Carter Perrilliat. Photo courtesy JoAnn Mar.

Rev. Cynthia Carter Perrilliat, a minister at the Allen Temple Baptist Church in East Oakland, often encounters this fear among her congregants, who she says ask: “Why should I trust that you’re going to do the right thing for me?”
“Statistics will tell you that in communities of color, particularly African-American communities, they always say ‘give me everything,’” says Perrilliat. “You know, all the treatment that there is, because typically we don’t get the treatment we need.”
Racial disparities and discrimination have long been part of America’s health care system from birth to death. Infant mortality rates are twice as high for African-Americans compared to whites. White Americans live 3.5 years longer than African-Americans.
Research further indicates that ethnic minorities are less likely to receive even routine …medical procedures and experience a lower quality of health services. At the end of life, racial disparities persist. Significantly fewer African-Americans, Asians, and Latinos enrolled in hospice compared to whites.
Rev. Perrilliat had her own positive experience with hospice many years ago when her father died of cancer. She realized that churches needed to become more active in end-of-life care. Seventy percent of African Americans are religious and churches are highly respected institutions.
“The faith community is one of the last bastions of resource out there where there is still some level of trust,” said Perrilliat.
In 2014, Perrilliat partnered with five churches, and started the Alameda County Care Alliance, a faith-based, non-profit providing critical support for predominantly African-American adults with advanced illness and their caregivers. It’s considered the nation’s first community-faith-health partnership of its kind. Ministers and faith leaders are trained to help their congregants prepare for the end of life and provide spiritual guidance and support related to their advanced illness.
At the heart of the ACCA’s program is its navigation system. Community care navigators are trained to provide support and connect participants with needed resources such as transportation, meals, medical services, and hospice care.
“You have to have a heart for people, a desire to help,” said Alexis Owens, one of the ACCA’s navigators, “We want to make sure they know we’re actively listening. We want them to trust us.”
In the last four years, the ACCA’s hub churches have grown from five to 14. Its medical partners include Kaiser Permanente, U.C. Davis School of Nursing, and the Public Health Institute. “We’re well over 2,500, close to 3,000 plus folks now in our third year,” said Perrilliat, “So there’s no lack of need, I promise you.” The ACCA hopes to reach beyond the African-American community and expand throughout the Bay Area. Major cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York have expressed interest in replicating the ACCA’s navigator system.
If the model spreads nationwide, it could go a long way in reducing racial disparities in end of life care. This story is part of a series examining racial disparities in accessing hospice and comfort care at the end of life. JoAnn Mar’s report was produced as a project for the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2018 California Fellowship.

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Commentary

Doctors Seeing More Cases of Preventable Childhood Illnesses

OAKLAND POST — Physicians have said vaccine skepticism has expanded beyond childhood immunizations. Doctors also reported growing resistance to other preventive treatments.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 17, 2026

bpusa-syndication

By Stacy M. Brown

Doctors across the United States say they are treating children for illnesses that routine vaccinations once made increasingly uncommon, raising concerns that years of declining immunization rates are beginning to reverse decades of public health progress.

Pediatricians have described seeing more cases of whooping cough, rotavirus infections, bacterial pneumonia and other potentially life-threatening illnesses that vaccines have long helped suppress. Some physicians reported treating conditions they had rarely encountered during their careers, while others said that growing vaccine hesitancy is changing how emergency rooms and hospitals care for children.

The reports come as measles outbreaks continue to spread across multiple states and vaccination coverage remains below federal public health targets.

Johns Hopkins University’s International Vaccine Access Center reported 2,077 confirmed measles cases nationwide as of May 29. Researchers warned that outbreaks reported across the country have raised concerns about continued transmission, additional hospitalizations and deaths, and the possible loss of the nation’s measles elimination status.

Public health experts have long viewed measles as a warning sign because of its ability to spread rapidly through communities with lower vaccination coverage. The New York Times reported that physicians increasingly fear the resurgence of measles may be followed by the return of other vaccine-preventable diseases.

Doctors say that is already happening.

Dr. Meghan Hofto, a pediatric hospitalist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said she has already treated roughly as many children with rotavirus this year as she saw during the previous decade. Rotavirus once caused tens of thousands of hospitalizations annually before vaccines sharply reduced its spread. None of the children she treated this year had been vaccinated.

Hofto also described caring for infants with pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough.

“It’s hard to know when they’re safe to go home,” Hofto told The Times.

The rise in whooping cough cases has been particularly striking. More than 28,000 cases were reported nationwide last year, compared with approximately 7,000 in 2023, according to figures cited by The Times. Many of the affected infants were too young to receive vaccinations themselves and relied on broader community protection to reduce their exposure.

Other doctors described similarly troubling cases.

Dr. Jessica Kirk, a pediatric hospitalist in Alabama, recently treated an unvaccinated toddler hospitalized with pneumonia caused by simultaneous infections of Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Vaccines exist to protect against both illnesses. The child required oxygen and antibiotics to recover.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have been tracking vaccination trends nationwide and found continuing signs of vulnerability.

At the same time, vaccine policy has become increasingly contentious in state legislatures.

Johns Hopkins researchers reported that lawmakers across the country continue to introduce bills affecting childhood vaccination requirements, vaccine access and non-medical exemptions. Researchers also noted that state policies governing exemptions remain a significant factor in vaccination coverage and disease transmission risks.

Physicians have said vaccine skepticism has expanded beyond childhood immunizations. Doctors also reported growing resistance to other preventive treatments.

For doctors confronting the return of illnesses that vaccines once pushed to the margins of American medicine, the challenge is becoming increasingly personal.

“It just feels like you’re a tiny little boat with a giant tidal wave coming at you,” Dr. Erin Charles, a regional pediatric hospitalist at Seattle Children’s Hospital, told reporters. “And you might convince one family here and there.”

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Community

Asm. Isaac Bryan’s Environmental Reparations Bill Passes on Assembly Floor

“All this bill does is allocate resources from that repair fund and direct cash assistance to families that have had negative health impacts as a result of living next to that oil field,” said Bryan during remarks on the Assembly floor.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 17, 2026

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Asm. Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights). File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

On May 26, the California State Assembly passed legislation to provide direct financial assistance to families harmed by pollution from a major urban oil field in South Los Angeles.

Assembly Bill (AB) 1661, introduced by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights), cleared the Assembly floor with a 44-10 vote after lawmakers concluded debate on the measure.

The bill would direct money from a community repair fund toward families who suffered negative health effects from living near what Bryan described as the state’s largest toxic urban oil field. The repair fund was created under legislation approved two years ago that shut down the oil field and required polluters to contribute financially to community recovery efforts.

Bryan called the proposal “the largest environmental reparations opportunity for South LA” and told lawmakers the bill had not received opposition during the legislative process.

The legislation is part of California’s broader push to address environmental justice concerns in communities historically exposed to industrial pollution. South Los Angeles residents and environmental advocates have long raised concerns about health risks associated with oil drilling operations near homes, schools and parks.

Supporters say the measure represents a new approach to environmental accountability by ensuring that communities affected by pollution directly benefit from funds collected from responsible companies.

After debate concluded, Assembly leadership opened the roll call vote, and the measure passed with majority support from lawmakers.

AB 1661 now moves to the Senate for further review.

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Activism

Rep. Kamlager-Dove Introduces Bill to Protect Women in Custody After Reports Detailing Miscarriages and Neglect

The Pregnant Women in Custody Act would expand safeguards beyond the federal prison system to include women detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The proposal follows reports of pregnant women being shackled, denied medical care and suffering miscarriages while in immigration detention.

Published

2 months ago

May 17, 2026

Oakland Post

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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37) on May 7, reintroduced updated legislation aimed at strengthening protections and healthcare standards for pregnant and postpartum women held in federal custody, including in immigration detention facilities.

The Pregnant Women in Custody Act would expand safeguards beyond the federal prison system to include women detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The proposal follows reports of pregnant women being shackled, denied medical care and suffering miscarriages while in immigration detention.

The legislation builds on a bipartisan version previously passed by the House during the 117th Congress. The updated bill includes new standards for healthcare access, mental health and substance use treatment, high-risk pregnancy care, family unity protections and increased federal oversight.

“Proper pregnancy care is a human right, regardless of your immigration or incarceration status,” Kamlager-Dove said in a statement. “It’s unacceptable that there are virtually no legal safeguards for pregnant women in federal custody.”

The bill would also limit the use of restraints and restrictive housing for pregnant women, improve data collection on maternal health in custody and require additional staff training and enforcement measures.

Supporters of the measure said the legislation is intended to address long-standing concerns about maternal healthcare and safety in detention settings, particularly for Black women and low-income women who are disproportionately impacted by incarceration and health disparities.

“Pregnant women in custody should never be subjected to dangerous and inhumane treatment that threatens their health, dignity, or the well-being of their babies,” said Patrice Willoughby, chief of policy and legislative affairs for the NAACP and a longtime public policy and government affairs strategist, in a statement.

A 2021 report estimated there are about 58,000 admissions of pregnant women into U.S. jails and prisons each year. Kamlager’s statement also cited a recent investigation by NBC News and Bloomberg Law that identified allegations of severe mistreatment or medical neglect involving at least 54 pregnant women or families in county jails between 2017 and 2024.

Federal policy under the Department of Homeland Security restricts the detention of pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants except in extreme cases. However, the agency reported that ICE deported 363 pregnant, postpartum or nursing women between January 2025 and February 2026, including 16 recorded miscarriages during that period.

The bill is cosponsored by several House Democrats and backed by organizations including the NAACP and the Vera Institute of Justice.