Palliative and End of Life Care

This essay explores the framework and principles of palliative and end of life care in New Zealand. It discusses the impact of chronic conditions and the needs of Maori patients, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach. The essay also covers legal and ethical considerations in delivering palliative 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
Introduction
Often, we become sick. It is everyone’s desire or dream to have a quality life or a quality
death. This is only possible if there are guiding principles towards the same. In New Zealand,
there is the Te Ara Whakapiri (Dempers & Gott, 2016). It contains essential concepts and
considerations needed to bolster quality care during end of life for all adults in New Zealand.
Furthermore, it offers useful approaches and tools necessary for implementation. Palliative care
optimize the quality of living and dying among patients and their family members framework
healthcare professionals should therefore strive to understand and incorporate concepts of
palliative in routine practice (Raphael, Waterworth, & Gott, 2014). Within the framework of this
essay, there will be an analysis of the framework that governs palliative and end of life care in
New Zealand.
Impact of chronic conditions, maximizing quality of life from holistic approach,
needs of Maori experiencing chronic conditions
According to the WHO, chronic or life threatening conditions are diseases that persist for
more than three months. A good example is cancer. These conditions have several impacts on
those affected and the family members (Shahid et al., 2018). The impacts can either be physical,
psychological and social effects. Physical impacts include inability to work, move to engage in
daily activities while psychological impacts include stress and anxiety as they await death. Social
effects include isolation by certain family members (Walker & Waterworth, 2017). The negative
impacts of life threatening conditions are the ones that aggravate death.

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In order to maximize the quality of life among the Maori, it is necessary for healthcare
providers to comprehend their needs while they are experiencing chronic conditions and come up
or utilize appropriate approaches such as holistic care (Wilson, Oliver, & Malpas, 2019). Several
studies point out that the Maori have a strong connection to spirituality while experiencing life
threatening conditions. O’Connor illustrates that most of them feel that chronic conditions are as
a result of evil deeds (O’Connor, 2015). Therefore, it is advised that holistic approach is the best
in order to maximize the quality of life for the Maori patients. A holistic approach, according to
Moeke-Maxwell, Mason, Toohey, & Dudley is an approach to healthcare while considering
different factors that affect them in different situations with the aim of achieving self-care to the
patient (Moeke-Maxwell, Mason, Toohey, & Dudley, 2018). Among the Maori, holistic
approach include reading spiritual books or quotes, worship, prayer with the assistance of family
members and spiritual leaders. Among the Maori communities, spiritual health always comes
first. It is then followed by mental, physical and family health. However, holistic approach in
palliative care is only meant to compliment general medicine. Healthcare providers should
therefore not completely shy off conventional treatment (Raphael, Waterworth, & Gott, 2014). A
holistic approach has shown to improve the quality of life and death among Maori patients
suffering from life threatening conditions. It is therefore important that all healthcare providers
understand the needs of the Maori during end of life care and offer culturally appropriate care.
Legal directives and ethical considerations
In the context of New Zealand, there are unique ethical and legal considerations during
delivery of palliative care. One of the principles is autonomy (Meier et al., 2017). Autonomy has
roots in Latin which means self-rule. What this implies is that the healthcare provider should
respect the decision made by the patient (Gott et al., 2013). However, the role of the healthcare

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provider is to empower the patient. If for example the patient feels uncomfortable with a certain
intervention, he is at liberty to decline and the healthcare provider should respect that. Others
include beneficence and non-maleficence. The principle of beneficence advocates for maximum
benefits to the patient while non-maleficence ensures that there is no harm to the patient in
palliative care (Frey, Boyd, Foster, Robinson, & Gott, 2015). I would therefore advise or educate
all the healthcare professionals that whatever process they do should aim at benefiting the patient
and should not cause any harm.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, palliative care improves the quality of life and dying. Each country has a
framework that guides end of life care. A good example is the Te Ara Whakapiri in New
Zealand. The frameworks contain ethical and legal considerations such as autonomy,
beneficence and justice. It is therefore imperative that all healthcare workers understand such
principles to ensure quality life and death.

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References
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Moeke-Maxwell, T., Mason, K., Toohey, F., & Dudley, J. (2018). Pou Aroha: An Indigenous
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