Towards a culturally acceptable end-of-life survey questionnaire: a Bengali translation of VOICES.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To assess the cultural acceptability and appropriateness of an English end-of-life survey questionnaire translated into Bengali for use in east London. STUDY DESIGN: Group discussions with informal carers (n=3 groups) and professionals (n = l1 group). SAMPLE AND SETTING: Informal carers within a Bengali-speaking community (n = 26) in east London participated in three groups discussions led by three community workers trained in interviewing procedures. These data were followed up with one group discussion with bilingual health and social care professionals (n = 6). ANALYSIS: Data subject to content analysis. RESULTS: Participants were supportive of the development of the translated questionnaire. However, attention should be paid to vocabulary, shared meanings, cultural equivalence and the ways people conceptualize health and illness, and death and dying. CONCLUSIONS: These findings, together with participants' views on the administration of the questionnaire, will prompt revisions to the research approach when targeting ethnic and cultural groups in the future.