Native English : Indigenous Consideration Activity

Therefore, I will always keep in mind that those skills and behaviours are necessary to work together and communicate sensitively and efficiently with Indigenous patients. Ultimately this cultural awareness will lead me to provide better health care. This reading emphasises the importance of cultural awareness which improved my understanding and respect for other cultures. This understanding encouraged and influenced me to practice in a culturally sensitive way, which is safer way and in addition it creates responsiveness between professionals and

Cultural competency aids in closing the “disparities gap” in health care. ("OMH," 2012, para. 2) In doing so, health professionals and their clients are better able to discuss concerns without cultural differences getting in the way of effective communication and problem solving. Being respectful of and sensitive to the client’s health beliefs, culture, values, and diverse needs can bring positive outcomes within treatment and patient care. After all, is it not the main job of the health care provider to ensure patient trust? Open forms of communication when dealing with client issues can only be provided if the patient is comfortable with his provider and believes his

It is important that the strategy has to draw on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, understanding what they need and provide the most effective way to reduce the mental illness and suicide prevention (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2009). According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfares, “Closing the gap” is a continuing national program which to help closing the gap of mental health of ATSI people. In the area of improving the mental health of Indigenous people, one strategy under the program is the National Action Plan on Mental Health 2006-2011. This plan elaborates that health practitioners who working in Indigenous community are being trained to identify and address mental illness, as well as other associated issues among indigenous people and make referrals for their treatment. In addition, the national plan also highlights that develop the capacity of health practitioner, local community and community organisation, provide better professional support and resources to enable Indigenous people to improve their mental health and develop cultural awareness and suicide prevention training for local health practitioner in mainstream

In order to deliver nursing care to different cultures, nurses are expected to understand and provide culturally competent health care to diverse individuals. Culturally competent care is tailored to the specific needs of each client, while incorporating the individual’s beliefs and values (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2006, p. 90). By being culturally competent, nurses are able to help improve health outcomes by using cultural knowledge and specific skills in selecting interventions that are specific to each client (Stanhope & Lancaster). Therefore, nurses “should perform a cultural assessment on every client with whom they interact with” (Stanhope &

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,

Cultural competency is the capacity of people or services to include ethnic/cultural considerations into all aspects of their work related to health promotion, disease prevention and other and other healthcare interventions (Cultural competence is important for several reasons, (Purnell, 2008a).First, it can contribute in the development of culturally sensitive practices which can reduce barriers that effect treatment in healthcare settings. Second, it can promote understanding, which is detrimental in cultural competence assessment, to know whom, the individuals known as the primary care provider and whom they view as the primary healer, can attribute to the promotion of trust and increase the person’s interest in participating

Remote communities such as those in northern Canada consistently experience a shortage of healthcare providers (HCP) including nurses (Place, Macleod, Moffitt & Pitblado, 2014). Due to the cultural and geographical uniqueness of these areas, challenges are inevitable, however, it can be undoubtedly rewarding. Nurses can particularly gain valuable experience regarding the importance of cultural competence and its implementation.Therefore, this paper will discuss the context of northern Canadian communities as well as three challenges and three benefits faced by nurses working there. Considering the populations in these communities are culturally diverse, it is especially essential for the nurses to have the appropriate cultural knowledge and skills in working with these populations. Consequently, we will also explore the definition of cultural competence, other terms used to describe this concept and how nurses can ensure they have the necessary cultural competence to work with these communities.

With regard to adapting care to the cultural context of a Native American patient, two theoretical nursing perspectives would be useful. The first is the meta-theory of critical theory, which is concerned with addressing and overcoming unethical power relations in the nursing situation (Oudshoorn, Ward-Griffin, & McWilliam, (2008); and under this umbrella, the second is Leininger's middle-range theory of cultural care, which is specifically concerned with surmounting cultural barriers in the nursing situation (McFarland & Eipperle, 2008). The critical theory perspective would help the nurse remain attuned to power discrepancies in her relationship with the Native American patient; this is absolutely crucial, because a Native American patient may be far more sensitive to what he perceives as acts of domination than patients from the dominant culture. Complementing this broad view, Leininger's theory provides a more specific framework which the nurse can use to assess her patient in order to make sure that she is taking a full holistic account of the patient and refraining from imputing her own cultural views onto the patient. This theory isn't predictive in nature, but it will help the nurse develop the frame of mind necessary for providing "culturally congruent care" (McFarland & Eipperle, 2008, p. 48) for the Native American patient. The middle-range theory can help the nurse bridge the simple social-cultural gap, while the meta-theory

Counseling a Native American client will often present a unique set of challenges, especially if the client has a high degree of what Horse refers to as native consciousness (2001, cited by Choudhuri et al., 2012, p. 85) in which he or she is deeply “anchored in tribal traditions and native language” (p. 85). About 37% of Native people live on over 300 reservations and tribal jurisdictions within the United States. To be prepared to help them, a counselor should know the Native demographics of the state in which they practice, be familiar with the populations and businesses of local reservations, and become educated about the customs and structures of local tribes. Native American tribes have a great diversity of fascinating culture and language, yet share many common ethnic values and tragic historical experiences with the U.S. government which contribute to their unique worldview. Perhaps the most obvious commonality among Native tribes is a strong sense of community derived from a sense having survived this common peril. Indeed, the situation of a Native person voluntarily seeking help from an outside source instead of from a traditional healer is unusual in itself (Barcus, 2003, p. 25). Whatever the Native client’s presenting problem may be, it is likely a reflection of communal conditions and beliefs. In order to successfully treat Native American clients, a counselor should use an approach that integrates Native community values and be willing to advocate and utilize

Indigenous people are three times as likely to experience physiological distress as the average person (Adams, 2014). Fortunately, there are very few differences in indigenous men compared to non- indigenous men when I came to mental illness. Unfortunately “Aboriginal women prisoners were more likely than their non-Aboriginal counterparts to be diagnosed with psychosis, depression and OCD” (Adams, p. 432, 2014)”; in other words women are more emotionally vulnerable than

Nurses’ attitude and behavior toward Indigenous consumers is thought to be improved based on the knowledge they gained from cultural awareness training (Downing & Kowal, 2011). Although this framework does not require mastering the culture of the Indigenous community, it does involve a thorough understanding of their history and background. Westwood and Westwood (2010) indicated the importance of CAT as a key strategy in achieving positive health outcomes for Aboriginal

The following paper will discuss the importance of developing culturally safe practices and building partnerships within health care. It will discuss cultural safety – what it is and why it is important, how culture and history impact health service delivery and the strategies and competencies that organisations can put in place to ensure a culturally safe environment for their clients/patients, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Cultural safety is the application and accumulation of the knowledge of values, principles and norms of a culture. It assists with overcoming the imbalances of cultural powers of places, people and policies, therefore supporting contributions to the improvement of health care services (Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA, 2013; NATSIHWA, 2013). It can be viewed as the concluding step on a continuum of care.

The Northeastern tribe has many different languages and ways to communicate. There are 3 major language families in this tribe. The three major groups are Eastern Algonquian, Central Algonquian, and the Iroquoian languages. Also, there could have been a thousand Native American languages. It is important to know these languages if you were studying artifacts from the Native Americans and wanted to learn more about it. There was a sign language that was used to communicate with other tribes. If you want to trade with another tribe, it is very important to know this language to communicate. The Northeast Native American tribes spread their languages amongst everybody else in the group and communicated

There were no Indigenous staff members employed by the organisation and no cultural competence training, even though our clients were multicultural, some of whom where Indigenous Australians. The training involved in becoming an aged care worker does cover some aspects of cultural sensitivity. However, the organisation provided little to no background information to staff members about their clients prior to visits. I remember feeling completely unprepared for some visits and think this is a prime example of a service greatly in need of cultural guidance. Furthermore, the care worker is supposed to be providing person-centered care with minimal disruption to the service users regular daily life. This is very difficult with a lack of information and could easily create circumstances of distress and discomfort for service users who are already feeling

The health status of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is deeply affected by the impacts of colonization, discriminatory policies, transgenerational loss and trauma resulting from stolen generation, missionaries racism, cultural disruption and ongoing socioeconomic disadvantage (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW], 2013). In terms of mental health, it is acknowledged that Indigenous Australians have poorer mental health outcomes compared to non-indigenous Australian. The higher prevalence of suicide in the indigenous population indicates the disruption of indigenous society within a contemporary context of social and emotional deprivation (Parker, 2010). In