Nursing and Health Vol. 2(5), pp. 100 - 105
DOI: 10.13189/nh.2014.020502
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Knowledge of Palliative Care: An Indian's Perspective

Sujatha Shanmugasundaram ^*
College of Health & Biomedicine, Victoria University, St Albans Campus, Australia

ABSTRACT

Background: Globally, the demand for palliative care services is markedly increased for the past decade due to emerging chronic diseases and ageing population. As a result, the health system needs to recognise and meet the needs of the people with life limiting illness. Palliative care is a specialised discipline of health care with the aim of providing care for the patient with terminal illness. Furthermore, there is evidence that minority ethnic groups have lack of knowledge on palliative care services in Australia. Purpose: To explore the issues in accessing palliative care services in Australia and provide recommendations to improve access. Methods & design: The research design chosen was constructivist grounded theory approach. Ethics approval was obtained from the study setting and from the university. Data collection was carried out in two phases. Semi-structured interview guide was used to collect the data. An in-depth interview was conducted and each interview lasts for 45 min to one and half hours. Snow ball sampling technique was done to recruit the participants. The inclusion criteria were: first generation Indian migrants; who understands, read and write English; Indian people receiving or already received palliative care services. Data was analysed by using grounded theory analytic technique. Findings: After analysing the data, two major themes were identified: knowledge about health care services, and knowledge on palliative care services. Conclusion: Although palliative care services are delivered effectively across Australia, still there are issues in accessing palliative care services among minority ethnic groups. Therefore, identifying these gaps and fulfilling these needs are the major focus in the Australia health care system.

KEYWORDS
Palliative Care, Family Caregivers, Indians, Terminal Illness

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Sujatha Shanmugasundaram , "Knowledge of Palliative Care: An Indian's Perspective," Nursing and Health, Vol. 2, No. 5, pp. 100 - 105, 2014. DOI: 10.13189/nh.2014.020502.

(b). APA Format:
Sujatha Shanmugasundaram (2014). Knowledge of Palliative Care: An Indian's Perspective. Nursing and Health, 2(5), 100 - 105. DOI: 10.13189/nh.2014.020502.