New Hospice and Palliative Care Resource Guide for LGBTQ+ Communities

NHPCO Diversity Advisory Council Resource Promotes High Quality Care

Today, in recognition of Pride Month, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) released a new resource, LGBTQ+ Resource Guide, with content developed by NHPCO’s Diversity Advisory Council (DAC). Available free-of-charge, the guide was released in conjunction with a DAC social media day, where NHPCO’s social media platforms were used to share information about disparities that exist in hospice and palliative care.

The topics covered in the resource guide include LGBTQ+ healthcare disparities, serving LGBTQ+ patients in your community, and strategies for reaching out to LGBTQ+ communities.  

NHPCO President and CEO Edo Banach noted, “NHPCO is committed to helping underserved communities access the person-centered care they deserve. Hospice providers have a history of meeting the unique needs of diverse communities going back to the early days of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s when compassion, dignity, and care were so desperately needed by those marginalized at the time. With a strong foundation and the support of resources like this LGTBQ+ resource guide, we hope all hospices and palliative care providers will provide the best care possible to LGBTQ+ patients and families.”

The resource guide emphasizes the importance of open communication and allowing patients to self-identify who they are and who is important in their lives.

“That’s what we really want to do when we’re serving our patients, is to show that we respect them, we hear them, we see them just as they are,” said Edie Moran, social worker with Prospero Health in Chicago and member of NHPCO’s Diversity Advisory Council. Moran was featured in a panel discussion about caring for LGBTQ+ people with a serious illness, which was shared on DAC’s social media day.

NHPCO thanks SAGE and Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Scholar Carey Candrian, PhD for their contributions to the guide.

Download the LGBTQ+ Resource Guide (PDF). 

Additional free resource materials from NHPCO are available at nhpco.org/diversity.

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If you need information or support related to caregiving or serious illness care, visit newly updated consumer-focused website, CaringInfo.org.