Populations Underserved by Hospice Hardest Hit by COVID

Demographic populations that historically have been underserved by hospice are also among the most severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the African American, Hispanic and Native American communities have been disproportionately represented in the numbers of COVID infections and associated mortality.

U.S. counties with a predominantly African American population, for example, tend to see three times the number of infections and six-times the number of COVID deaths than predominantly white counties, according to data published in April.

While no cause-and-effect relationship exists between lower hospice utilization and the rate of COVID cases, both factors are indicative of