The goals of this study are to generate evidence for an intervention (Phase 1) which addresses the psychosocial distress related to not eating amongst those at the end of life, and to test the efficacy of this intervention (Phase 2). Thus, a phenomenological study will generate culturally appropriate evidence for New Zealanders upon which to base an intervention (i.e., interactive booklet for patients and family carers to complete). Phase 2 is a randomized experiment that will assess before and after scores on eating symptom distress, dyadic discord, spiritual well-being, and death anxiety/acceptance.

This Seeding Grant allows the PI to conduct "hui" or focus groups with Maori families of recently deceased hospice patients. It also supports up to a dozen semi-structured interviews with kaumatua (Maori elders) about their perceptions of hospice. This 1-year project also allows training of a young Maori researcher.

Altthough considerable clinical literature describes how health care professionals should and can conduct a spiritual assessment, there is not evidence describing how the major stakeholders in this endeavor perceive this process. This small project will begin to show what level of comfort hospice nurses and care recipients have with questions inquiring about spirituality and religiosity. A questionnaire created by the investigator will be used to collect data.