Palliative care and the African communities

Since the late 1990s, Australia’s intake of refugees from Africa has increased from several hundred to several thousands per year. African refugees have made up the bulk of the refugee intake for most of the last decade and will do so for the foreseeable future. The New African Communities (NACs) that are now present across Australia are a challenge for the delivery of health services, including palliative care. NAC members are refugees from war, internal displacement, torture, the death or disappearance of family members and often long periods of living in refugee camps. They are brought to Australia, not because of their skills or resources, but for humanitarian reasons, when resettlement in their home country or a nearby country is not an option.

In many NACs home countries, life expectancy is short and the disease burden high. The life expectancy of NAC members may improve through the intervention of Australian health services, better diet and sanitation. Conversely, a poor settlement experience, the stress of isolation and coping in a foreign culture, the language difficulties and the impact of western lifestyle diseases may reduce life expectancy. Presentation at palliative care services may be earlier than the wider population and present challenges to staff in delivering effective and culturally sensitive service.

Having prior knowledge of the NACs present in Hobart, Southern Tasmania, I developed a PEPA project for exploring the service delivery of palliative care services to such communities. The project had strategies of research, community consultation with groups and individuals and liaising with Migrant Resource Centres and other organisations and services devoted to refugee and migrant health. This was a novel and interesting project for the three staff involved, with resultant lessons for all.

7776 - Palliative Care and the New African Communities (340kb ppt).