Stanford Study Finds Barriers to End-of-Life Care Across Ethnicities
While Asian, black and white Californians over age 50 value end-of-life care, access to such care often is hindered by several factors, regardless of ethnicity, according to a recent study, Kaiser Health News/KQED's "State of Health" reports.
Details of Study
For the study, Stanford University researchers interviewed more than 300 California adults over age 50 about their attitudes toward end-of-life care and whether they had experienced barriers to obtaining such care for relatives or others in the area. The researchers interviewed 315 adults in:
- Fremont;
- Palo Alto;
- San Francisco;
- San Jose; and
- Walnut Creek.
The study included:
- 160 Asian individuals;
- 117 white individuals; and
- 38 black individuals.
The interviews were conducted in:
- English;
- Burmese;
- Hindi;
- Mandarin;
- Tagalog; and
- Vietnamese.
Researchers still are collecting data on Latino residents and plan to publish a separate study with the findings.
Findings
According to the study, all participants said they valued quality end-of-life care. However, about 60% said they had experienced barriers to obtaining such care, such as:
- Cultural values;
- Family conflicts;
- Financial issues; and
- Poor communication with health care providers.
A lack of financial means and access to adequate health insurance were the most notable barriers, according to the study.
There were no statistically significant differences in access to care across the ethnicities.
However, the study found that women were more likely to report barriers to care than men.
Meanwhile, participants with less education were more likely to report financial barriers, and patients with more education were more likely to report issues with provider communication (Feder Ostrov, "State of Health," Kaiser Health News/KQED, 11/23).
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