Indigenous Health Care

Socioeconomic issues and cultural care preservation hinders Aboriginal to access quality health care. First, primary socioeconomic problem of

Culture shock is a term used to describe an individual whom experience stress, anxiety, or discomfort when they are placed in an unfamiliar cultural environment (9). There are many cases of student that travelled to foreign countries for studies, but for my experience when I came to Australia, I wasn’t really shock by the culture. When I arrive in this country, I could say that I was an open book, which I am still. As a future professional health practitioner learning and adapting to proper methods in healthcare, especially in Indigenous Aboriginal health centred care wouldn’t be a big challenge; and I would use what I’ve learn to help my patients effectively.

Inequality in health is one of the most controversial topics within Australian Health Care. Inequality in relation to health is defined as being “differences in health status or in the distribution of health determinants between different population groups” (World Health Organization, 2012). Within Australia inequality affects a wide range of population groups; however Indigenous Australians are most widely affected therefore this paper will focus on how inequality has impacted their health. Research shows that Australia’s Indigenous people suffer from a multitude of social and economic inequalities such as inadequate access to nutritious food and health care, being socially and

Firstly, the role of cultural competence in the nursing care of an Aboriginal client is significant. Culturally competent care is defined as “the explicit use of culturally

The main ideas that Lisa Bourque Bearskin is stating in this article is that nurses need to be more sensitive to cultural care. They need to be aware of the issues in healthcare and strive to remove any barriers for certain groups, such as the first nations, and they need to disrupt any unequal relations in the social, political and historical aspect of healthcare. The way this can be done is by shifting their thoughts from cultural competence to cultural safety by way of relational ethics. Cultural competence is explained as the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that nurses need to use to care for cultural differences. Another framework described cultural competence as going through the stages of cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skill, cultural encounter, and cultural desire. Cultural competency works very well when making policies in an agency but this view fosters a view of culture that does not encourage nurses to ask questions. (Bearskin, 2011) Cultural Competence causes different cultures to be put in a box, which cannot be done because cultures are constantly changing and every person’s culture is different. Culture is individual. Lisa Bourque Bearskin goes on to say that cultural safety is what nurses should use for ethical practice. In cultural safety, a nurse must strive to improve health care and its access for all people, while recognizing that there are many different cultures that have a right to be recognized. Bourque

“The status of Indigenous health in contemporary Australia is a result of historic factors as well as contemporary socio-economic issues” (Hampton & Toombs, 2013, p. 1).

64). Reflecting one owns practice is the first principle, and it is a critical part for nurses because it is a vital characteristic for achieving professional competence (Mann, Gordon & MacLeod, 2009). While minimising the power gaps between the nurses and the Indigenous patients is the next principle (Atkins, De Lacey & Britton, 2014). An Indigenous client view nurses to have more power more than them, thus acknowledging the Indigenous practices lessen the power imbalance (Durey & Thompson, 2012). Thirdly, in implementing cultural safety it is actually engaging sensitively with the patient to gain understanding of their viewpoint (Atkins, De Lacey & Britton, 2014). Some health care providers lack true engagement to the Indigenous clients in the health care settings (Ware, 2013). For an instance, the use of medical jargons and abbreviations while talking, a culturally safe nurse includes simple language or explanation that the patient can understand easily (Skellet, 2012). Additionally, having an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers in health care facility can excellently build trust and can promote better engagement among Indigenous client (Hepworth et al,

In relation to Aboriginal health, this will require nurses to develop greater awareness of culture and the influences that affect it including racism, colonialism, historical circumstances, and the current political climate in which we live. Nurses working with aboriginal communities need to understand the history, socio-political climate and culture within the specific community (Foster, 2012). Nurses must emphasize the need for solutions that will strengthen cultural identity, identify and promote both existing and traditional sources of strength within First Nations communities, incorporate traditional healing methods, and rely on local control and self-direction by First Nations communities (Mareno & Hart, 2014). In addition to placing a high priority on cultural awareness, nurses should also understand the concept of respect in aboriginal terms and apply respect in all their encounters. Self-awareness of their own beliefs and assumptions are important in order for nurses to have an effective relationship with the community (Foster, 2012). It is important for nurses to reflect on their own cultural knowledge, awareness, skills, and comfort in encounters with a diverse population of

The inequalities in today’s indigenous communities are still strongly evident. Heard, Khoo & Birrell (2009), argued that while there has been an attempt in narrowing the gap between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians, a barrier still exists in appropriate health care reaching indigenous people. The Indigenous people believe, health is more than the individual, it is

The Oxfam Shadow Report explained in 2010 that the Australian Government is making improvements on the implementation plan for Indigenous Australians to be a long-term plan to properly tackle the existing disparities in health care systems, and aiming to eliminate sociocultural barriers that may limit good practices and policies to be implemented. (as cited in Durey, 2012) Based on the interview results from this article where indigenous people explained their negative hospital stays, it was evidently proven

These groups are different to other indigenous groups around the world. Among Aboriginal peoples, there are a numerous amount of similar historical and contemporary social determinants that have shaped the health and well being of individuals, families, communities and nations. However, distinctions in the origin show and give impact on social determinants and impact on health interventions to make sure they are successful.

Page 1 The World Health Organisation (World Health Organisation, 2008) states that the indigenous peoples of Australia are one of the most disadvantaged indigenous groups in the developed world. The health of the Indigenous population of Australia is an increasingly pressing issue. Current research and statistics reveals great inequality in many areas of health care and health status between the Aboriginal people and the general population of Australia. Couzos and Murray (2008, p. 29) report that the Indigenous population has “the worst health status of any identifiable group in Australia, and the poorest access to health systems.” This paper will examine the underlying historical contexts and contributing factors that have lead to the

Throughout this unit I learned about the cultural loss that Indigenous Australians suffered, which lead to poor health outcomes along with poor social, emotional and mental wellbeing amongst Indigenous Australian population. Culture is part of our identity, which makes us who we are. Therefore culture is an important aspect of each individual. Culture is a unique way to make sense of the world; it is both material and ideological (Eckermann et al., 2010). Culture impacts all part of life including; health, illness and health care. It is important for health professionals to understand and work with the culture of Indigenous Australians to create a good health outcome. Through stolen generation, colonisation and the loss of land, language and community, the culture of Indigenous Australians faded. At the start of this unit, I wasn’t aware of all the damage that was done to Indigenous Australians and their community. I understand more about my culture as well as culture security and Aboriginal culture. I can understand what it feels to be separated from family and it feels as though some part of you is missing but to be separated from everything that is familiar and to be told that no one wants you is terrible. Now at the end of this unit, I still don’t fully understand the extend of the damage that has been made nor do I entirely understand what Indigenous Australians suffered and are still suffering but I do understand that this can be changed and that I can make a

A culturally safe care is defined as “what is felt or experienced by a patient when a healthcare provider communicates with the patient…” (Bickford, 2015). Social justice lists the “rights of all people in our community which are to consider to be fair and equitable” (Social Justice Principles, 2003). These rights are justified through equity, fairness and equality in marginalized groups of society that can be visualized in the healthcare system. The basic principles of social justice, which promotes safe care, are as follows: equity, access, participation and rights (Social Justice Principles, 2003). Social advocacy plays a vital role to help nurses promote safe care by safeguarding patient autonomy, acting on behalf of patient, and championing social justice (Mackey, 2015). The following paper will describe how the principle of social justice and advocacy support culturally safe care regarding the Aboriginal people and women in Canada.

This encounter referred to as biculturalism, is an important aspect of cultural safety. This means that the interaction between a nurse and a patient is always considered bicultural as this involves the nurse’s culture and that of the patient’s. In this contact there is hidden power structure and a dominant culture (Henderson, 2003; Jarvis, 2012; Papps & Ramsden, 1996). As stated earlier, in New Zealand the colonisation British enabled them to dominate over all aspects of New Zealand’s way of life and culture, hence in the health care setting, the non-Maori culture prevails. As a culturally safe practice, nurses should learn to respect and acknowledge the culture of the care recipient whether it similar or different from them. Recipients of cares should be encouraged to participate and utilize their culture in managing their health and treatment (Papps & Ramsden, 1996). The nurse’s self awareness of one’s culture while acknowledging and respecting another’s is a fundamental requirement in order to practice cultural safety in nursing (Papps & Ramsden, 1996; Polaschek, 1998; Robinson et al., 1996).