Dr Sabine Wardle's mother moved from India to Australia around 2011. When Dr Wardle began to look for palliative care options, she quickly found that nothing was suitable.

"There was next to no facilitation for her religious beliefs," Dr Wardle said.

"So we decided to take care of her at home."

Dr Wardle found her mother's challenges were not entirely unique.

Across the community, there were few options in the palliative care field that catered to culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations.

"I observed first hand my mother's struggled with the food, the culture, and the religious practices," she said.

"I saw that most culturally and linguistically diverse people don't understand palliative care, the term is not recognised among many cultural groups."

Cultural understanding of the concept of palliative care was one of the bigger challenges to overcome.

"Palliative care was unheard of to my mother, in the culture she grew up in most often people are cared for at home," Dr Wardle said.

"It's important to build awareness about the lack of cultural information about palliative care as a concept. Is it culturally inclusive when there's not necessarily a direct translation for the word in all languages?"

One of the other issues facing CALD people in palliative care was the available eating options for end-of-life care.

"Food is a major factor in spirituality, there are consequences for what is consumed, it has to be culturally appropriate," Dr Wardle said.

In order to improve the care options for CALD people, Dr Wardle is leveraging Palliative Care Week to launch a research project into the needs of diverse people in palliative care.

As part of the pilot program, she is seeking 12 people from diverse backgrounds who are either in palliative care or who have a relative who has been through palliative care.

"My project, Preserving and promoting cultural practices in palliative care through digital storytelling, aims to acquire knowledge of cultural practices, such as rituals, customs, and food, which are crucial at the end stage of life for culturally appropriate palliative care service delivery to the CALD population groups," Dr Wardle said.

"This project recognises the potential of giving voice to the silenced, marginalised, and potentially vulnerable population group of adults from CALD backgrounds."

Anyone who might be interested in taking part in the program is encouraged to contact Dr Wardle directly at swardle@csu.edu.au.

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