A Racial Gap in Attitudes Toward Hospice Care

The city of Kungälv, Sweden, with only 20,000 residents, developed a successful initiative to prevent the spread of neo-Nazis after the murder of a fourteen year-old anti-racist activist in 1995. Armed with the theory that "hate is always local," a local teacher created the Tolerance Project, held workshops with local teenagers and took them on trips to Holocaust sites. Now the "Kungälv model" is being practiced and adapted to local contexts around Sweden.

To combat racial disparities in maternal health care, New York is funding a partnership program between the city and communities to improve maternal healthcare for women of color. Both public and private hospitals will implement implicit bias training and the city will work to improve its data collection. Hospitals will also receive funds for health coordinators to make sure women are accessing care.

A lack of diversity in the environment and conservation sector has been well calculated, documented and established, but the story doesn't end there. Many groups across the U.S are looking to not just recruit a more diverse population, but actually change organizational culture. "“We learned we need to be intentional about change, not just well-intended,” Jamie Williams, President of The Wilderness Society explains, as one group working to achieve this change.

New York Police Department has Operation Ceasefire, in which a mother whose child was a victim of gun violence calls gang members at risk of perpetuating similar crimes. The effort aims to bridge the divide between ethnic minority communities and the police with community pressure on behalf of the police.

Doulas are becoming a more widely used resource among pregnant people, particularly Black women who historically face racial inequities during pregnancy and childbirth. Groups like The Doula Network and the Southern Birth Justice Network are working to expand doula services by training and connecting pregnant women with certified doulas. Doula care is more holistic and studies show that women using doulas have about a 65% reduction in their odds of developing postpartum depression or anxiety when a doula is present during labor and delivery.

The Iowa Black Doula Collective trains doulas to help educate and advocate for Black women during pregnancy and childbirth. Research shows women who work with doulas are less likely to have low birth-weight babies and experience birth complications. Since forming in 2020, the Collective has raised over $200,000 and trained 64 Black doulas.

In an effort to combat high rates of maternal mortality and healthcare disparities among pregnant Black women, MLK Community Hospital offers combined care from certified nurse midwives and obstetricians to ensure a safe, healthy birth. Midwifery offers more sensitive and individualized care and is also linked to fewer C-sections and preterm births. At MLK Community Hospital, 14% of its first-time, low-risk births involved a C-section, compared to 23% of such births across the state.

The Advanced Illness Care Program was founded within local Black churches and offers free, individualized support for people with advanced illnesses and their caregivers, helping them navigate various life and health issues and plan for end-of-life care. Since starting in 2015, the AICP has helped more than 1,600 patients, the majority of which are Black, and 55% of them have gone on to complete advance directives for end-of-life care.

Birth in Color, in partnership with Birth Equity Action & Research to Transform Health (BEARTH) Village, is working to address the Black maternal mortality crisis. The community-based organizations use research and cultural wisdom to dismantle inequities Black women face during birth. The groups provide free doula care to provide care and advocate for women in healthcare settings. There are currently 80 available doulas who help about 350 women give birth each year.

The Synergy Healthcare Center is a mental health services clinic that focuses on issues facing the Black community to help fill gaps in service and address mental health stigma. Synergy focuses on cultural awareness to ensure those seeking help feel safe and comfortable with the mental health care services they’re receiving. The Center also hosts various themed gatherings to help create a safe place for those in need.