Although some research suggests that caregivers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities have higher unmet information needs compared to their English-speaking counterparts, few studies have examined determinants of information needs among CALD cancer caregivers and their satisfaction with received information. This study aimed to explore experiences with cancer-related information among caregivers of people with cancer from CALD communities.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 caregivers from Arabic and Chinese backgrounds (12 in each group). Thematic analysis was used to analyze data.

Participants’ mean age was 40.6 years, and most were female (83%). Six themes were identified: (a) lack of information to meet their needs; (b) challenges understanding cancer- and care-related information; (c) proactivity to make sense of, and understand information; (d) interpreting information: the role formal and informal services; and (e) engaging with health providers to access information.

Caregivers identified significant language and communication barriers impacting their capacity to understand cancer-related information given by providers and they invested personal effort clarifying information. The importance of access to formal interpreter services, even when caregivers and care recipients seem proficient in English, was highlighted. Cultural sensitivity of providers when discussing a cancer diagnosis and treatment was also identified as an important consideration.

Culturally tailored outreach programs designed to provide key cancer-related information which are accessible to CALD caregivers have the potential to improve the health outcomes of both caregivers and care recipients.

To understand the clinical and psychosocial journey of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) palliative care patients.

This study was conducted at a subacute hospital with a specialist palliative care unit and a community palliative care service in a metropolitan region of New South Wales, Australia. Medical records of 100 deceased patients from CALD backgrounds over a 12-month period from 2014 to 2015 were recorded on a data mining tool. The cohort had transitioned to either community or inpatient palliative care services with a life-limiting illness. We used descriptive statistical analyses to identify the patients’ end-of-life journeys in the physical, psychological, spiritual, and social palliative care domains. Staff case notes were used to enrich the quantitative data.

The most common symptoms burdening the patients were decreased mobility (82%), pain (76%), and poor appetite (60%). The majority of patients (87%) were diagnosed with cancer. Language was a major barrier to the assessment and management of symptoms. The vast majority of patients were born in Europe and Asia. Twenty-nine percent of the patients preferred to use English. However, among patients who required an interpreter on admission, only 9% used professional interpreters. Family distress around patients’ lack of food consumption was prominent, along with provider concern when this led to families “force feeding” patients. Only 5% of files documented patients’, and 21% of files documented families’, cultural wishes or needs. Care of the body after death was only documented in 20% of files.

The increasing cohort of older people from CALD backgrounds will have significant implications for the planning and delivery of palliative care services. There is an emerging need to address the physical, psychological, spiritual, and social palliative care domains in the end-of-life journeys of patients from CALD backgrounds to ensure the provision of quality care.

People from ethnic minority groups who receive cancer care outside their country of origin may experience poor survival and psychological outcomes relative to that nation's majority groups. This exploratory qualitative study aimed to understand the experience of a large minority group of Mandarin-speaking cancer patients (MSCPs) after diagnosis and treatment of their cancer in Australia, with a view to delineate if cultural or linguistic factors affected the quality of care provided.

We employed an exploratory qualitative design involving interviews with 22 MSCPs who were treated during 2009 at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (PMCC) in Melbourne, Australia. Participants were interviewed by a bilingual psychiatrist, audiotaped, transcribed in Mandarin, and then translated into English before being subjected to thematic analysis by two independent researchers.

MSCPs experienced notable challenges as a result of both language difficulties and differing cultural approaches, which often limited their understanding of their disease and impeded their ability to access quality care and adequate support. The results call for Australia and other Western nations with increasingly diverse populations to consider how cancer care can be modified to better support people from minority groups to effectively cope with their diagnosis and treatment.

This study raises several suggestions for service improvement, including the development of bilingual communication aids, improved educational opportunities for clinical staff to aid their mastery of cultural issues and effective interpreter consultations, and improved access to supportive services offering culturally specific strategies.