Qualitative Study of Elderly Pacific Informal Caregivers of a Young Person with an Illness or Disability

Qualitative Study of Elderly Pacific Informal Caregivers of a Young Person with an Illness or Disability
Date of publication: September 2009

Summary of publication

This research describes the experiences of elderly Pacific caregivers caring for young people with a chronic illness or disability, and what they need to support their health and well-being in their role as caregiver. It is an exploratory, qualitative study, focusing on ‘informal caregivers’. Data was collected through focus groups and interviews with 24 elderly Pacific people across several ethnic groups. The children cared for varied in age from 12 months to 18 years and had conditions ranging from bronchitis and severe asthma, to autism, epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

The report discusses the following themes:

The resiliency of elderly Pacific carers
The contribution of poverty and poor housing to difficulties faced by the carers
The impact of the caring role on the carer's own health
Levels of carers' health knowledge
Issues with access to information and services
The role of traditional beliefs and treatment
Emotional dissonance
The role of spirituality

The National Health Committee would like to thank all of the participants in this study for their stories and the research team at Vaka Tautua (particularly Dr Siale Alo' Foliaki) for the excellent work carried out to make this such a valuable report for the Committee. This report is part of a wider project the National Health Committee is undertaking about how supports and services should be provided for informal carers.

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