The African American
Advance Care Planning/
Palliative Care Network
Meet a vibrant network of palliative care experts advocating for greater access to and participation of African-Americans and other communities of color in advance care planning
History of the Network
The AA ACP/PC Network was founded by Dr. Richard Payne, who passed away in 2019.
Dr. Richard Payne, Esther Colliflower Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Divinity, was an internationally esteemed pioneer in pain relief, palliative care, oncology, and neurology. He joined the faculty at Duke Divinity School in 2004 as Director of the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life, the institute that predated and paved the way for the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Payne helped to lead a number of prestigious institutions and academic societies, yet his scholarship and academic leadership never displaced his central commitment to care for people. Indeed, Dr. Payne consistently aligned his scholarly work with his devotion to those he was called to love and serve, from members of his family to his patients, from his church to his academic colleagues and students. In particular, Dr. Payne found creative ways to bring together his academic work and his dedication to justice and equity in health care.
Following his death in 2019, the Center for Practical Bioethics put together this tribute video to commemorate and honor Dr. Payne’s life and work.
In 2022, Duke Divinity School established the Richard Payne Lecture in Faith, Justice, and Health Care in his honor.
Mission Statement
To reduce racial disparities in advance care planning and to nurture the capacity of the African American Advance Care Planning/Palliative Care (AA ACP/PC) Network to lead efforts to overcome racial inequities across healthcare.
Network Goals
(1)
To maintain and strengthen the AA ACP/PC Network, a group of advance care planning and palliative care experts advocating for greater access to and participation of African Americans and other communities of color in advance care planning;
(2)
To map the current research landscape around advance care planning for African Americans and other communities of color, and identify key opportunities for research collaboration;
(3)
To offer learning resources for African American clergy and congregations about the basics of advance care planning, hospice care, and palliative treatment;
(4)
To provide a deeply vibrant theological vision of what it means to live well and die faithfully; and
(5)
To work alongside health care professionals to bridge the gap between a spiritual and a medical understanding of advance care planning.
Network Statistics
MEMBERS
— 45 Academics, Clergy, and Clinicians
— 2 Graduate Student Assistants
AFFILIATIONS
— 54 Institutional affiliations
— 14 U.S. states
— 1 U.S. district
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
— 36 Doctoral Degrees
(1) DMin, (1) EdD, (3) JD, (14) MD, (15) PhD, (2) ThD
— 49 Master’s Degrees
(5) MA, (2) MBA), (11) MDiv, (1) MHA, (2) MHS, (1) MPA, (8) MPH, (1) MRE, (5) MS, (4) MSN, (2) MSSW, (3) MSW, (2) MTS, (2) ThM
— 9 Licenses
(1) BCC, (1) EMT, (1) PA-C, (6) RN
Network Member Spotlight
Dr. Johnson is a widely published medical scholar whose research focuses on understanding and eliminating racial disparities in palliative and end-of-life care for seriously ill African Americans. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development at Duke University School of Medicine, and is Director of the Duke Center’s REACH Equity Program.
