Barriers to employment of African American professionals in hospice: a qualitative study with African American social work students

A major barrier to African American hospice utilization is the lack of African American hospice professionals. This qualitative study with 10 female African American social work students in a Midwestern university explored whether the participants were interested in hospice employment. Results provided information about reasons for the overall lack of diversity in hospice, reasons for the lack of African American staff in hospice, reasons for the lack of African American patients in hospice, and avenues toward knowledge about hospice by African American professionals. Barriers to African American employment included a lack of hospice content in social work education, differences between African American cultural and religious beliefs and hospice philosophy, and that the lack of African American hospice patients resulted in a lack of desire for employment in hospice. Strategies for recruiting and retaining African American hospice social workers are proposed.