Palliative and end-of-life care for Chinese immigrants: experiences of family caregivers

Wu, Hao (2015) Palliative and end-of-life care for Chinese immigrants: experiences of family caregivers. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Though Chinese immigrants constitute one of the largest immigrant groups in Canada, little research has been conducted to explore palliative and end-of-life care for this community. The purpose of this research was to learn about the lived experiences of Chinese family caregivers who have provided palliative and end-of-life care to their loved ones. This qualitative study adopted hermeneutic phenomenology to understand palliative and end-of-life care for Chinese immigrants from the perspective of their family caregivers. Seven Chinese immigrants living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) were recruited and in-depth interviews were conducted with each participant using semi-structured and open-ended questions. Thematic analysis, guided by the Voice-Centred Relational (VCR) method, was employed to analyze the data. Five major themes were identified, namely, life as a family caregiver, Chinese cultural understandings of disease and death, interdependency in the Chinese family, experiences with Canadian health care services, and future considerations. Understanding the lived experiences of Chinese family caregivers is an important first step in making healthcare providers aware of relevant aspects of Chinese culture so they may better provide palliative and end-of-life care to Chinese immigrants and their families in the future.

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