Researchers at the University of Sheffield
have found that older Chinese people are disadvantaged when it comes
to finding out about cancer screening, treatment and care, because of
language and cultural barriers in the healthcare system.
The research project was led by Professor Sheila Payne in the palliative
and end-of-life care research group at the University of Sheffield´s
School of Nursing and Midwifery. It involved focus groups and one-on-one
interviews with older Chinese people in Sheffield and Manchester, to
find out what older people from these communities know about cancer,
its diagnosis, treatment and the care available locally.
Professor Payne´s team found that while most older Chinese people
were keen to find out about cancer, they are at a disadvantage to access
information about screening and treatments because of language barriers
and levels of illiteracy in both English and oriental languages. In addition,
people taking part in the research found that the lack of available interpreters
or familiar Chinese food in hospitals to be a source of additional discomfort
in times of illness.
The research also found that although most older Chinese people would
choose western medical treatments for cancer over traditional Chinese
medicine, they did not know about hospices and end-of-life care available
to them beyond the hospital.
Professor Sheila Payne from the University of Sheffield said:
" Our
research has shown that older people from Chinese communities are at
a disadvantage when trying to access information about cancer and treatments
for cancer due to language and other cultural barriers.
_ To combat this disadvantage, health care providers need to
ensure that information about cancer is made readily available in
written and
audio formats, in the appropriate languages for the Chinese community.
More needs to be done to cater for the specific needs of older Chinese
people who have cancer, and to ensure that they have all the information
to hand to make informed decisions about treatment and care."
This research was funded
by The Health Foundation. The research findings will be presented to members of the Chinese communities
in Sheffield and Manchester in two special events on 2 September and 5 September
2005. (2 September from 11am – 1.30pm,
at the Chinese Community Centre, 157- 159 London Road, Sheffield; 5 September
from 11.30am – 2pm
at the Kwok Man Restaurant, Princess Street, Manchester).
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any particular view or activity. Material in this news item
was first published by Sheffield University (England, UK) on
31st August 2005.
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