End-­‐of-­‐life care beliefs values, practices and support needs of Chinese women living in the UK: A Cultural Safety approach

End-of-life care requires attention to mental health, religious practices and beliefs, and health care systems and supports to help individuals cope with the process of aging, coming to terms with death and dying and to help family members and loved ones cope with bereavement. To date, there is limited research examining end of life care and the needs of Chinese people in the UK. Understanding end-of-life care expectations in relation to this population is important for informing the development of new health policy and service initiatives, given that there are currently over 1 million Chinese people living in the UK. The purpose of this study is to explore the mental health, religious practices and beliefs, and services and support systems required by this community to cope with end-of-life and bereavement. In July 2011, Wai Yin Chinese Women’s Society in Manchester, UK conducted fourteen semi-structured in-depth interviews with a group of Chinese migrants (primarily women working within the margins of UK’s formal economy) to explore end-of-life care issues. The current study performed a secondary analysis of these transcripts focusing only on the stories of the eleven Chinese women. The women participants were recruited as a part of Wai Yin’s Sunshine Project, which aimed to assist Chinese migrants in improving their knowledge and understandings of their employment and immigration rights (in the UK) and to help them learn the English language. Main findings are presented in eleven broad-based themes: acculturation, culturally specific services, death and dying, Eastern practices and beliefs, gendered effects, health and health care, hereafter, language and communication, obligations versus duties and responsibilities, personal choices, and Western practices and beliefs.