Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice 5-Day Sprint Process

Here in South Jersey, and across the country, hospice and palliative care services are significantly underutilized by communities of color. In support of Samaritan’s commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, & Access, the Rowan Center for Responsible Leadership (RCRL) facilitated a 5-day sprint process to develop a research plan regarding hospice and palliative care among diverse populations to determine consumer:

• Awareness
• Utilization
• Attitudes
• Preferences
• Priorities
• Recommendations

Through facilitated problem-solving events, the Samaritan Project Team and RCRL staff members collaborated in various sprint sessions to generate solutions for the development of Samaritan’s research plan regarding hospice and palliative care among diverse populations. 

The sprint focused on Samaritan’s commitment to engage in mutual dialogue with its patients, families, staff, volunteers, and the community to listen, learn and activate recommendations for care delivery, program development, education, and communications. The results were successful, as the interdisciplinary workgroup developed several projects to support increased access to services for more diverse patients.