Innovative Models in Palliative Care in Oncology

Abstract

Abstract This chapter on innovative models in palliative care examines current practices and recommendations for future directions in the structure and clinical provision of palliative care aimed at improving access, decreasing structural inequalities, and improving clinical equity in care. It argues for innovations to be evaluated on the basis of the extent to which they address the needs of and incorporate input from historically marginalized populations. Structural innovations in palliative care provision reviewed in this chapter are from grassroots, private, and public initiatives aimed at increasing access in underserved communities by specifically responding to the unique cultural orientation of these populations, and the use of digital platforms along with caveats in its rapid expansion post-COVID. It also considers clinical innovations that address the impact of race-based trauma on communities of color and recommends medical and epistemological pluralism as an effective response to divergent cultural beliefs in health practices.