Journal of palliative medicine
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Previous research suggests that lack of knowledge of hospice is a barrier to the use of hospice care by African Americans. However, there is little data examining racial differences in exposure to hospice information. ⋯ African Americans reported less exposure to information about hospice than whites. Greater exposure to hospice information was associated with more favorable beliefs about some aspects of hospice care. Because knowledge is power, educational programs targeting older African Americans are needed to dispel myths about hospice and to provide minorities with the tools to make informed choices about end-of-life care.
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Standard measures of dyspnea rely on the patient's self-report. Declining consciousness and/or cognitive function and nearness to death may interfere with dyspnea reporting making the patient vulnerable to undertreatment or overtreatment. ⋯ Declining consciousness and/or cognitive state are expected when patients are near death. The ability to give even the simplest self-report (yes or no) about dyspnea is lost in the near-death phase of terminal illness, yet the ability to experience distress may persist and may be overlooked and undertreated or overtreated. Other methods for symptom assessment are needed in this context.