Prioritizing in Palliative Medicine: Why Quality of Life Suffers with Racism

by Michelle Christopher and Sonia Malhotra (@SoniaMKhunkhun)The silence was palpable. Two of us continued to speak about our concerns about the way Black lives were treated and how important it was to address these concerns among us for the betterment of our patients. If we couldn ’t understand this among colleagues, how would we ever understand what our patients, a predominantly Black population at a safety net hospital, went through?- - - - - - - - - - - - -As the COVID pandemic started and we saw the first surge of patients flood our hospitals, we watched our patients, colleagues and broader community come together to share stories and experiences. After asking patients how they were coping with the anxiety that social isolation and fear of infection brought, our patients would often thank us for holding space for them to speak on these challenging times. Each week, our colleagues would gather to share the high and low points of our week, often focused on how the pandemic was affecting us personally and professionally. Our multidisciplinary team would speak openly about feeling empowered at times and discouraged at others when attempting to serve the complex needs of our patients, whose families were being ravaged by this virus. The connectedness felt with our patients and colleagues during this time was an inspiring reminder of how open communication and a sense of community is integral to sustaining collective physical, mental and spiritual health throughout a pandemic...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Care Tags: christopher malhotra race The profession Source Type: blogs