Te Ārai member, Dr Gemma Aburn has recently partnered with Sir Collin Tukuitonga, Director of Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwa, to launch a multi-phase paediatric palliative care programme for clinicians working across the Pacific Islands.

Although the goals of care for intensive care patients are typically focused on restoration of health, people die in the intensive care unit (ICU). Early recognition of the need for end-of-life care is vital to identify and support the wishes of the patient and needs of their family. In Aotearoa, New Zealand, Māori are over-represented in admissions to ICUs. Enabling nursing staff to provide culturally-responsive care to Māori patients and whānau (family, including extended family, kin) is critical. A qualitative study by Bachelor of Nursing Honours graduate Ellie Taylor and supervised by Dr Natalie Anderson and Dr Tess Moeke-Maxwell explores the experiences of both Māori and non-Māori intensive care nurses, in providing end-of-life care for Māori patients and their whānau.

It is generally a memorable situation that leads us to call an ambulance for a family member. However, relatively little research has explored family members’ experiences of emergency ambulance care. Doctoral candidate Eillish Satchell recently identified and considered all existing published research including family and bystander experiences and found there was plenty of opportunity for greater family engagement in paramedic (ambulance) research.

Kelli Stajduhar examines the pressing question: How equity-oriented is palliative care? In doing so, Stajduhar reveals the potential “blind spots” in end-of-life care provision. Stajduhar champions a social justice approach to palliative care, arguing that “we need to address the social and structural inequalities that profoundly affect how people live and how people die”. Watch professor Stajduhar’s brilliant lecture here.

In August 2023, Tess Moeke-Maxwell co-authored a paper that delves into the profound impacts of social inequity on palliative care, along with Maddy French and Lorraine Hansford. The paper titled, “Reflecting on choices and responsibility in palliative care in the context of social disadvantage”, provides a crucial analysis of the challenges faced by frontline professionals in ensuring equitable end-of-life care, especially in the context of structural injustices and socio-economic disadvantages.

A new paper published in BMC Palliative Care offers a crucial perspective on the implementation of assisted dying (AD) in Aotearoa New Zealand. It explores the experiences of health care providers (HCPs) and their adaptation to AD legislation introduced in November 2021.

n Aotearoa, the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly reshaped the concept of end-of-life care. Some of our Te Ārai researchers, led by Tessa Morgan and Merryn Gott, delve into this sensitive area in their insightful article: "A bad time to die? Exploring bereaved families/whānau experiences of end-of-life care under COVID-19 restrictions: a qualitative interview study". This research focuses on the experiences of 30 ethnically diverse next-of-kin in Aotearoa who navigated the end-of-life care of their loved ones during these challenging times.

Dr Deborah Raphael has earned a highly competitive Health Research Council NZ early career researcher grant.