Understanding the role of culture in pain: Māori practitioner perspectives relating to the experience of pain
Jane E Magnusson, Joyce A Fennell
There is growing interest in the role of cultural factors within healthcare settings yet minority ethnic groups are underrepresented in the healthcare literature, including the literature on pain. To better assess and treat pain within different cultures, the perspectives of that culture must be taken into consideration and therefore the study described in this paper was undertaken to better understand M ori perspectives of pain. In this study, Kaum tua and M ori healthcare providers were interviewed to better understand how pain was perceived and expressed by M ori with whom they had health-related interactions. We found that, as in many cultures, M ori perceive pain as a multidimensional experience impacting them physically, psychologically, socially and spiritually. In addition to finding that there is a commonality between cultures with regard to the experience of pain, our results showed the importance of taking into account factors related to M ori culture (e.g. the role of the wh nau/family and the development of relationships with healthcare providers) when assessing and/or treating M ori patients with pain.