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Effective Communication In Aboriginal Health Care

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Introduction:

The health status of Indigenous Australians today remains far below that of the general population, with a considerable gap in life expectancy of almost 11 years between the two.1 Even in non-remote regions, elderly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are 50% more likely than a similar bracket of the general Australian population, to have a disability or a long-term health condition.1 Communication difficulties due to cultural and linguistic differences between non-indigenous health care providers and the indigenous patients have often been cited as a major barrier to providing better and more effective health-care services. Henceforth, there must be strong communication between the patient and medical practitioner for …show more content…

Hence, this will provide the foundation for accurate diagnosis and treatment and an establishment of a caring and therapeutic relationship with the patient.4 This should consist of shared perceptions and feelings regarding the nature of the problem and the outcome. Therefore, appropriate communication should integrate both patient and doctor centred approaches.4,9 However, this is especially hard to achieve within remote areas where a vast percentage of the population are elderly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Furthermore, the indigenous culture’s focus on interpersonal communication and protocols differs significantly from the Western medical model on systematic consultations.5 Henceforth, this barrier is cited to be prevalent and has resulted in poor communication as an ongoing health crisis limiting delivery of effective healthcare services to Indigenous Australians.3,6 Therefore, effective cross-cultural communication skills are crucial to providing culturally-sensitive healthcare to elderly Aboriginal and Torres Strait …show more content…

This is due to the patient would have a far more comprehensive understanding of the situation and information being conveyed to them. Additionally, they can use interpreters or provide the information in writing in the native language of the patient can also increase the quality of communication and consequently the quality of

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