{"title":"Hospitalists' Perspective on Goals of Care Discussions with Racially and Ethnically Diverse Patients","authors":"Amanda Dowden M.D.","doi":"10.1016/j.jnma.2025.08.082","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Previous literature has shown that patients of racial and ethnic diverse backgrounds are less likely to be engaged in goals of care discussions during hospitalization. The objective of this study is to shed light on barriers to addressing goals of care in this vulnerable population.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>All hospitalists at a major tertiary center were surveyed. Study data were collected using REDCap electronic data capture tools. This needs assessment will be performed via an anonymous and voluntary survey of hospitalists. Descriptive statistics and Chi test will be used for analysis.</div><div>Data records consist of Anonymous survey responses from hospitalists. Questions will include identifying barriers and facilitators to discussing Goals of Care with patients of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds as well as hospitalist perspective on current recommendations to improve these discussions in this population. Part 1 of the study assesses hospitalist confidence in carrying Goals of Care conversations. Part 2 of the study assesses hospitalists barriers to goals of care discussions amongst patients of ethnic and racial backgrounds. Part 3 assessing how practical hospitalists feel GOC conversations are in their clinical practice.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Qualitative analysis revealed two themes which characterized hospitalists’ difficulty approaching end of life care: preconceived views of patients’ preferences and lack of institutional resources. The data shows that the number of hospitalists who feel very and extremely confident having G.O.C discussions with patient’s drops significantly when talking to non- English speaking patients from 67% to 19%. There is a similar trend when discussing life support from 81% to 19%. Additionally, 52% state that language is a moderate to extreme barrier to GOC discussions with patients. Of interest, only 4% state that race and ethnicity is a moderate barrier to GOC discussions and 11% state that spirituality or religion is a barrier to GOC discussions. Additionally, when asking about integrating the recommended goals of care questioning to underserved/diverse populations 48% felt that it would not be realistic in clinical practice.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The data suggests that looking forward it is necessary for us to eliminate disparities in end of life care. This study provides evidence to support development of interventions at the clinician and institutional level to reduce disparities in Advanced Care Planning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":17369,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the National Medical Association","volume":"117 1","pages":"Page 44"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of the National Medical Association","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0027968425002780","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Previous literature has shown that patients of racial and ethnic diverse backgrounds are less likely to be engaged in goals of care discussions during hospitalization. The objective of this study is to shed light on barriers to addressing goals of care in this vulnerable population.
Methods
All hospitalists at a major tertiary center were surveyed. Study data were collected using REDCap electronic data capture tools. This needs assessment will be performed via an anonymous and voluntary survey of hospitalists. Descriptive statistics and Chi test will be used for analysis.
Data records consist of Anonymous survey responses from hospitalists. Questions will include identifying barriers and facilitators to discussing Goals of Care with patients of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds as well as hospitalist perspective on current recommendations to improve these discussions in this population. Part 1 of the study assesses hospitalist confidence in carrying Goals of Care conversations. Part 2 of the study assesses hospitalists barriers to goals of care discussions amongst patients of ethnic and racial backgrounds. Part 3 assessing how practical hospitalists feel GOC conversations are in their clinical practice.
Results
Qualitative analysis revealed two themes which characterized hospitalists’ difficulty approaching end of life care: preconceived views of patients’ preferences and lack of institutional resources. The data shows that the number of hospitalists who feel very and extremely confident having G.O.C discussions with patient’s drops significantly when talking to non- English speaking patients from 67% to 19%. There is a similar trend when discussing life support from 81% to 19%. Additionally, 52% state that language is a moderate to extreme barrier to GOC discussions with patients. Of interest, only 4% state that race and ethnicity is a moderate barrier to GOC discussions and 11% state that spirituality or religion is a barrier to GOC discussions. Additionally, when asking about integrating the recommended goals of care questioning to underserved/diverse populations 48% felt that it would not be realistic in clinical practice.
Conclusion
The data suggests that looking forward it is necessary for us to eliminate disparities in end of life care. This study provides evidence to support development of interventions at the clinician and institutional level to reduce disparities in Advanced Care Planning.
期刊介绍:
Journal of the National Medical Association, the official journal of the National Medical Association, is a peer-reviewed publication whose purpose is to address medical care disparities of persons of African descent.
The Journal of the National Medical Association is focused on specialized clinical research activities related to the health problems of African Americans and other minority groups. Special emphasis is placed on the application of medical science to improve the healthcare of underserved populations both in the United States and abroad. The Journal has the following objectives: (1) to expand the base of original peer-reviewed literature and the quality of that research on the topic of minority health; (2) to provide greater dissemination of this research; (3) to offer appropriate and timely recognition of the significant contributions of physicians who serve these populations; and (4) to promote engagement by member and non-member physicians in the overall goals and objectives of the National Medical Association.