Religions and Hospice Utilization among African Americans

In this interdisciplinary project, a nurse-anthropologist (Barrett) and a chaplain-psychologist (Grant) conduct interviews with subjects recruited by a physician (Grossman). Dr. Grossman co-directs a palliative care team, which is, of course, interdisciplinary. The researchers hope for more hospice admissions and better quality of life for terminally ill African-American cancer patients, and for improved satisfaction with the provider-led decision-making process. They plan to develop educational resources for religious and medical professionals, and anticipate funding for future phases of this research, employing both qualitative and quantitative methods at Emory Crawford Long Hospital. African-American patients under-use hospice care not only because they distrust a primarily white medical system, but also because their spirituality tends to cluster around issues like human vs. divine agency, the role of miracles, and the purpose of suffering. No one has yet published a systematic study on this subject; the researchers expect to fill the void by publishing their results in leading academic journals.

Main researchers: Ron Barrett, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (SON), George Grant, CST, and Stephanie Grossman, Emory Healthcare