Cultural and Individual Barriers to Palliative Care From Different Angles: Data Triangulation in Practice

Abstract

When a disease turns terminal, end-of-life care replaces questions of cure and healing. Patients and relatives face the transition from health care to end-of-life care and the decision for a type of care (family, hospital, hospice). When people with a specific cultural background tend not to use available institutional support, the question of barriers and their location should be raised. In a study, patients, relatives, and service providers were asked about such barriers in the access of palliative care for Russian-speaking immigrants in Germany. Barriers in the health care system and in the possible clients’ individual or cultural backgrounds and their diverging or overlapping perceptions as well as interpretive patterns of using hospices could be identified. This article demonstrates for what we need data in analyzing cultural and individual decision dilemmas in Neo-Liberal Times in the encounter of diverse cultural values for improving service situations.