Palliative and End of Life Care

Running head: PALLIATIVE AND END OF LIFE CARE 1
Palliative and end of life care
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PALLIATIVE AND END OF LIFE CARE 2
Introduction
Palliative care according to the World Health Organization, is a type of care provided to
individuals suffering from terminal or chronic conditions with the aim of relieving symptoms
and stress associated with the illness (Landers, Dawson, & Doolan-Noble, 2018). Palliative care
provided to the Maori through holistic approach, consideration of cultural beliefs and effective
communication relieves the patients from fear of the illness, treats symptoms and manages both
emotional and social needs and addresses the practical and spiritual concerns of the Maori
(Wilson, Oliver, & Malpas, 2019). Healthcare profession should therefore grasp the concept of
palliative care and incorporate it while providing care to the Maori people. Within the framework
of this assignment, there will be an analysis on the relationship between cultural care accorded to
the Maori patients and their families during palliative and end of life care (Frey, Boyd, Foster,
Robinson, & Gott, 2016). Furthermore, there will also be a discussion on the significance of
communication in achieving spiritual needs while providing palliative care. Finally, there will be
a conclusion to summarize the important facts in the assignment.
Discussion
Culture and palliative care in Maori
The Maori people have unique cultural, social, linguistics holistic beliefs. Cultural care is
the ability of the healthcare provider to meet the above needs of the Maori. Different studies
point out to the fact that cultural care is very vital to Maori clients and their families during end
of life care (Landers, Dawson, & Doolan-Noble, 2018). This type of care has proved to very
important in bolstering or improving quality of life and quality of dying in diverse ways. First of
all, cultural care has shown to improve the process of collecting accurate patient data among the

PALLIATIVE AND END OF LIFE CARE 3
Maori individuals (Gott et al., 2017). In surveys conducted among the Maori people suffering
from chronic conditions, results show that respect between the patient and healthcare workers
creates mutual trust between the two. This makes it possible for the patient and their family
members to disclose relevant data that healthcare professions uses as the basis of making
relevant decisions in the end of life care.
Cultural care improves patient satisfaction that eventually improves quality of life and
dying. Studies illustrate that since Cultural care involves respecting and involving the Maori in
the decision making process, they feel valued and therefore feel satisfied with the type of care
provided to them. (Frey, Boyd, Foster, Robinson, & Gott, 2015). Furthermore, cultural care
advocates for interaction between the patient and the nurses and this is similarly linked with
positive health outcomes such as good quality care and satisfaction with healthcare. Finally,
Cultural care assists nurses to create a better rapport with patients and their families and this
enhances proper communication which plays an important role in assessing the needs of the
patients. Furthermore, it assists in coming up with good treatment and intervention plans to
generally improve quality of life and the quality of dying since the patient is able to make
choices that works well for them.
Communication and palliative care
Communication improves coordination and integration of care in holistic approach.
Holistic care according Shahid et al.,is defined as an approach to healthcare while considering
the physical, emotional, social, economic and the spiritual desires or needs of the patient (Shahid
et al., 2018). Furthermore, the concept explores how the patient responds to the chronic condition
and the ability of the patient to meet his or her self-care needs. The Maori people have unique
cultures and beliefs about chronic conditions that the healthcare providers should comprehend