Pōuritanga: Whānau end-of-life experiences during lockdowns

Our latest paper presents Māori end of life caregiving, death and tangihanga experiences during COVID-19 Lockdowns. We highlight how the disruptions impacted Māori death customs and how whānau adapted.

Lockdowns impacted the relational processes that underpinned whānau caregiving. In particular, not being able to be with whānau when they were serious ill and dying was traumatic. As one participant said:

I thought ‘We can’t leave Mum [in hospital] by herself.’ But we had no choice in the matter. Mum needed that professional help…I just cried my eyes out. (Kahi whānau)

Due to the pandemic restrictions there was a lack of palliative care provision within the home which had a serious negative impact on people’s experiences. The Ryan whānau shared that:

[Lynn] was in pain the day before he died and haemorrhaged. We didn’t know what to do. Those who were in the room were traumatised by what they saw. It sparked a real panic in some of us. The district nurse said [over the phone]‘Get that morphine into him.’ We didn’t have the palliative care support we needed.

However, despite the challenges, whānau honoured the rangatiratanga of their ill and dying as demonstrated by this quotation from the McDonald whānau:

I think our whānau glues us all together and keeps us strong until we can be strong for ourselves. They carry us, they carry the weight of our heart so that we can be within the space, whatever space that is.

This research was conducted as part of the Rapua to Mārama study, led by Dr Tess Moeke-Maxwell and funded by the HRC. You can view the virtual exhibition created during this project here.

Principal Investigator, Dr Tess Moeke-Maxwell