Exploring Occupation Roles of Hospice Family Caregivers from Māori, Chinese and Tongan Ethnic Backgrounds Living in New Zealand

Abstract

A major challenge to occupational therapists working in palliative care is determining the best ways to help family caregivers who are caring for family members. The purpose of this study was to explore palliative caregiver occupations among Māori, Chinese and Tongan ethnicities. Six informants participated, one woman and one man from each ethnic group. In each of their homes, informants were asked to discuss what it was like caring for their dying family member. The occupational themes resulting from these interviews were food preparation, spirituality and family gathering. Therapists need to be aware of the differences in how people care for family members within their ethnicity. Implications are that occupational therapists can help families identify activities important to them within the main occupational themes: different types of foods and their preparations, various ways to express spirituality and how families gather together members of their extended family. Further, clinicians need to take on the role of a "not-knowing" but curious health-care provider in order to meet the needs of caregivers. The limitation was the small number of participants who all lived in one geographic area. Future studies should include a wider group of ethnicities.

Palliative care and quality of life needs and outcomes for Māori with cancer: what do we know?

“…Key informants suggested an additional 12 articles and 2 reports to the list, leaving 67 documents for full-text review. Following full-text review, 47 texts were excluded, leaving a remaining 18 articles and 2 book chapters for inclusion in the final review (Ahuriri-Driscoll et al, 2014; Angelo & Wilson, 2014; Cassim et al, 2021; Eldridge, 2014; Frey et al, 2013; Gott et al, 2015, 2018; Lawrenson et al, 2013; Mason, 2018; Ministry of Health, 2014; Moeke-Maxwell, 2014; Moeke-Maxwell et al, 2014, 2020; Moeke-Maxwell, Mason, Toohey, & Dudley, 2019; Moeke-Maxwell, Mason, Toohey, et al, 2019; Nelson-Becker & Moeke-Maxwell, 2020; Oetzel et al, 2015; Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust, 2013; Slater et al, 2013, 2015, 2016; Wiles et al, 2018). Supplementary Table 1 provides a brief overview of the included studies.…”

“…Other 15 papers included Māori participants and considered palliative care, although not specific to cancer (Ahuriri-Driscoll et al, 2014; Eldridge, 2014; Gott et al, 2015, 2018; Lawrenson et al, 2013; Mason, 2018; Moeke-Maxwell, 2014; Moeke-Maxwell et al, 2020; Moeke-Maxwell, Mason, Toohey, & Dudley, 2019; Moeke-Maxwell, Mason, Toohey, et al, 2019; Nelson-Becker & Moeke-Maxwell, 2020; Oetzel et al, 2015; Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust, 2013; Slater et al, 2016; Wiles et al, 2018). Of the remaining four articles, one considered palliative care and cancer not specifically for Māori (Frey et al, 2013), and the other three included Māori with cancer, not specifically in the palliative care setting (Angelo & Wilson, 2014; Cassim et al, 2021; Slater et al, 2013). All but two papers (Lawrenson et al, 2013; Slater et al, 2016) used a qualitative approach or descriptive analysis, and there were varying levels of focus on the aspects of quality of life.…”

Scientific production in palliative care and occupational therapy: scoping review / Produção científica em cuidados paliativos e terapia ocupacional: revisão de escopo

“…23 Concerning the occupational therapist's role in PC, the professional must include an approach to the family, taking into account the differences, as well as helping them to identify important activities, such as food preparation, the expression of spirituality, among others. 25 In regard to the interventions adopted by OT in PC, the main ones were as follows: promotion of the therapeutic relationship; people's embracement; information sharing; counseling; education; guidance and importance of the active role of family members/caregivers in the entire process, as well as the importance of assessment, education, training, promotion of involvement in meaningful activities, adaptation/graduation and use of specific intervention techniques with the client. [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] Observing the interventions performed directly with the patients, these include prescription/provision of assistance equipment to optimize the patient's independence in activities of daily living and to assess the functional needs, postural positioning and patient comfort.…”

Māori: living and dying with cardiovascular disease in Aotearoa New Zealand

“…Observing obligations involving tikanga (customs) and kawa (protocols) can incur additional financial costs [23]. As such Ma ¯ori may be unable to observe end-of-life cultural care obligations [21] unless obtaining additional resourcing [32]. Returning to an ancestral home before death helps to strengthen the dying person's spiritual connections to their iwi (tribe) and tu ¯puna (ancestors); however, the transport costs can be restrictive [26].…”