Bridging Formal Health Services and Community Care for Improved Access to Culturally Appropriate End-of-Life Support...

The research aimed to understand the different cultural needs relating to death and dying of migrant populations in Western Sydney, Australia, and how end-of-life care can be provided in culturally safe ways which can, in turn, inform the policies that shape palliative care and bereavement service delivery. The mixed methods design for this study used an online quantitative survey using the Death Literacy Index, key informant qualitative interviews, culture-based community focus groups, and individual Photovoice interviews with carers. In all, 266 participants across the three largest migrant communities and local area health services took part in the research. The results revealed the importance of cultural practices and rituals for people at end of life and that providing space for these is crucial to cultural safety in service contexts, in addition to relational trust and the need for community input to improve the services that affect them. There is also a need for greater knowledge and understanding in the end-of-life space through two-way exchanges between communities and service providers. Finally, there are important ways that the existing services can facilitate cultural safety and ways of increasing the availability of culturally appropriate end-of-life and bereavement services for the community.