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Cal State Northridge has released a short Spanish-language documentary exploring options for end-of-life care, the Post-Periodical reports.
The video, a project by Kyusuk “Stephan” Chung, an associate professor of health administration at Cal State Northridge, is about a dying patient in the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease who turned to hospice care so she could spend her last days at home among loved ones.
It is entirely in Spanish, designed to educate the Latino community, which may not know that end-of-life care options extend beyond putting a dying loved one in the hospital or family members struggling on their own to care for that person at home.
“I have spent more than 10 years researching end-of-life care, and in particular hospice care,” said Chung, according to a university news release. “While the population as a whole is becoming more and more aware that hospice is an option, there is still a huge gap, a lack of awareness, in Hispanic and Asian communities.
“Part of it is cultural,” he said. “In those communities, there’s an assumption that family members will take care of a loved one when they are ill and dying, regardless of the situation in the family. Hospitalization is not an option. Part of it is lack of education. People in those communities are not aware that they can still fulfill their familial obligations, but don’t have to do it alone. There is help out there, such as hospice care, that can assist them in caring for a loved one at home, and ensures that they have the right equipment and support, including medical support, so that the family and the patient are cared for in the best way possible.”
By The Numbers
25.1
percent
of Latinos remain without health insurance coverage
