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How do ethnic minorities cope with cancer in Hong Kong? The role of public health services, social network and religion = 香港少數族裔如何應付癌症：公共醫療、社交網絡和信仰所扮演的角色
Principal Investigator
Department
Grant Awarding Body
Research Grants Council
Grant Type
Faculty Development Scheme
Project Code
UGC/FDS15/H04/21
Amount Awarded
HK$947,631
Funding Year
2022-2023
Duration of the Project
24 months
Status
Completed
Abstract
There is ample research in the West illustrating cases where ethnic minority patients have either underutilized palliative care services or have received lower quality care when they have cancer. This is as a result of various reasons such as a lack of health literacy, ineffective communication with medical professionals, language barriers, mistrust of the services, or alternative religious values that are contrary to professional medical practice. A number of researchers (Leininger, 1978, 2002; Tsai et al., 2004; Fischer et al., 2007) have called for culturally competent palliative care in which the cultural and religious beliefs of ethnic minority patients are an integral part of the system. While there has been abundant discussion of ethnic minority and palliative care in the West, the issue has not been discussed in Hong Kong at all, despite the fact that the population of ethnic minorities has been steadily growing (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, 2016). The aim of this research is to explore how ethnic minority cancer patients and their caregivers cope with their illness in Hong Kong. It also aims to analyse the role of informal social networks as well as religion and faith in the treatment processes. The core questions of this research are: are cancer treatment services in Hong Kong culturally competent, and to what extent do they cater to the needs of ethnic minority patients? What do ethnic minority cancer patients and their caregivers need, and what are the effective ways to address their needs? In what ways does informal social network and religion and faith play a role in the process of fighting cancer? Qualitative in-depth interviews will be used in this research. A total of 70 interviews with various subjects will be conducted: 30 South Asian (namely Pakistani, Nepalese, and Indian) cancer patients, 30 major caregivers named by each individual patient, and ten medical practitioners including oncologists, medical social workers, and medical staff of self-help groups in public hospitals. The interviewees will be approached and referred through voluntary healthcare associations, medical practitioners, religious groups, and personal contacts. This study is expected to make the following contributions to the existing research. First, it will bring the topic of cancer care, which is a rarely studied but undoubtedly significant issue, into the field of local ethnic minorities research. The findings will also contribute alternative insights into the existing social network analysis. Second, the findings of this study will help the healthcare sector to design improved cancer policies, especially on palliative care for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.