End of life care (EOLC) is the support provided to the patient surrounding the time of death. Bereavement care is the support provided to family, friends and community after a person has died. Culture plays a critical role in how patients, families and health care providers view end of life and provide culturally sensitive and appropriate care.

The following information contains links to resources for bereavement service providers that aim to raise community awareness and understanding of the needs and preferences of community members from varying cultural backgrounds, to assist in improving end of life and bereavement support for migrants and refugees in Tasmania.

There are five key areas that inform culturally appropriate EOL and bereavement care: cultural competency, counselling services, use of interpreters, information in additional languages and financial considerations.

A team from the Centre for Rural Health, School of Health Sciences at the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Bereavement Care Network (BCN) partnered on a state-wide project to explore the bereavement care experiences of migrants and refugees in Tasmania and how their care experiences can be improved during bereavement. An important part of the project was to develop publicly accessible online resources to help service providers and the wider community. For further information on the project please contact the Centre for Rural Health. If you would like to provide feedback about any of these resources, please contact the BCN