Minority representation, prevalence of symptoms, and utilization of services in a large metropolitan hospice.

Minority access to and utilization of hospice services is gaining increasing attention in the field of health care delivery systems. This case study describes the 1997 ethnic and racial make-up of a large metropolitan hospice facility located in Arlington, Virginia and compares its composition with the regional community. Demographic data; aggregate physical and psychosocial problems; utilization of services; and admission, discharge, and mortality data were collected and summarized by race and ethnicity. The state provided 1997 regional mortality data by race and ethnicity. When hospice deaths were compared with regional deaths, the hospice provided service to 30% of Caucasians decedents, 20% of Asian decedents, 19% of Hispanic decedents, and 18% of African-American decedents. By using mortality data rather than census data, the discrepancy between minority and Caucasian populations is not as large as has been reported in previous research.