The Migrant Experience of Dying Away from Country of Birth

Abstract

Introduction The New Zealand population faces demographic changes that impacts fiscal and labour governance, and clinical practice. Migrants are a group who experience challenges in settling into a new society and trying to reassemble their lives, while also retaining their cultural and religious values. Experiencing an end-of-life illness concomitantly can result in existential distress affecting their quality of dying. Aims The research question was: What is the experience of dying for migrants in New Zealand? The aim was to explore the migrant experience of dying away from their country of birth. Method Hermeneutic phenomenology was the choice of methodology to draw meaning from the experiences of the dying migrants, using Heidegger’s philosophy as the approach in interpretation. Findings The migrants’ stories, as they reflected in the end-of-life clearing, illuminated a duality of identities, which were in varying degrees of experienced belonging. Duality of identity ranged from merged to convivial to diverging identities in the group of research participants. The second notion explored the stories of life review from the migrants. The challenges of decision-making prior to migration were reviewed in retrospect while meaningfulness and importance of what had transpired was uncovered. Loss of dreams of visiting motherland with children that were life’s hopes before illness intruded was also part of life review. By contrast, reminiscing and re-living the memories of happier times in their countries of origin brought momentary pleasure alongside the sadness that pervaded the interviews. Enacting continuity of mores became a task to be achieved with children, and demonstrated their continuing attachment to motherland. Conveying dying wishes was also evidence of acceptance of imminent end-of-life, with their wishes for the final resting place communicated. Insightful equanimity was arrived at from reflection, as a place of transformation that follows full acceptance of dying. This thesis argues that for migrants, finding belonging is fundamental to settling in their adoptive country and achieving spiritual peace in end-of-life. Conclusion The new knowledge from this research centred on how life review was enacted for each migrant in end-of-life and how resolution was found, which in turn, is dependent on finding belonging or a degree of it in country of adoption. Reliving the stories of people, places, and occasions brought them closer with new understandings of relationships and joy in meaning-making in end-of-life. The implications of this research for practice include education to increase practitioner awareness, the use of formal and informal life review with dignity therapy and meaning making to benefit migrants grappling with dying away from homeland. Spiritual well-being, a crucial part of end-of-life and palliative care can offer assistance with resolution of end-of-life despair.