Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Care
Palliative Care
AMA PRA Category 1 Credits 1.00
CAMPEP Credits: 1.00
MDCB Credits: 1.00
Malcolm Mattes, MD
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
New Brunswick, NJ
Palliative radiation therapy is underutilized across a variety of clinical settings, with reported disparities in palliative radiation therapy administration based on age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and geography. The first speaker will describe what is known about these disparities, and frame them in the context of social determinants of health and other known disparities in palliative cancer care in general. The second speaker will describe practice models of palliative radiation therapy delivery, including use of a dedicated palliative radiation oncology service, which can help expedite patient care and address these disparities in an urban/tertiary academic center environment. The third speaker will then discuss means of improving access to palliative radiation therapy among rural patient populations. The speakers will also describe the impact of cultural competency and language barriers in communicating sensitive topics in order to "reach" diverse groups as well. Finally, the speakers will engage the audience with questions and answers. Overall, the goal of the session is to explore approaches to address these disparities in different practice settings in order to ensure access to patient-centered palliative radiation therapy among diverse populations.
Speaker: Malcolm Mattes, MD – Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
Speaker: Carlos Rodriguez-Russo, MD – University of Minnesota
Speaker: Anna LaVigne, MD – Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Speaker: Sara Alcorn, MD, PhD, MPH – University of Minnesota
Speaker: Malcolm Mattes, MD – Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey