Aboriginal Study

Question:

Part A:
Poster – To be completed before presentation. Can be given at the beginning of the unit.

Part B:

• Presentation
• Student instructions
• Instructions

• This is a two (2) person assessment task.
• There are two (2) tasks for this project

1. Participation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.
   • List two (2) strategies that could increase Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander participation in health service delivery.
2. Cultural safety
   • Identify three (3) reasons why it is important to recognize and use culturally appropriate and safe work practices in the workplace.
   • Explain one (1) way of identifying if a workplace practice is culturally safe.
   • It is common for younger Aboriginal people to refer to their elders as ‘Auntie' or ‘Uncle'. This is used as a term of respect and acknowledgment of their seniority. List two (2) strategies you could use to demonstrate respect for a person and their culture in the workplace.
   • Identify three (3) strategies for developing effective relationships with a person from another culture.
3. Self-determination.
   • Self-determination is a process as well as a collective right exercised by peoples rather than individuals. The right to self-determination is the right to make decisions. The practical exercise of self-determination is central to Aboriginal health. Explain how would you ensure health care services and programs encourage self-determination and self-control to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people?
4. Effective partnerships
   • Identify three (3) resources you would use to promote effective partnerships with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, organization and communities.
   • Why is forming mutual mentoring arrangements with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people important when providing healthcare and workplace services?
5. Advocate for anti-racism
   • Myths and stereotypes are a key component of racism. List three (3) strategies you could use to advocate for anti-racism in the workplace.
6. Cross-cultural relationships
   An Aboriginal woman does not look you in the eye when you are asking her for her medical history and gives brief responses to your questions. You find her actions to be rude.
   • Identify two (2) ways you can make and maintain cross-cultural relationships.
   • List two (2) strategies you could use to sensitively and respectfully communicate in a cross-cultural context.

Answer:

1. Participation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.
2. Cultural Safety
   • List two (2) strategies that could increase Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander participation in health service delivery.
     Two strategies to increase Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander participation in health service delivery are:
     1. Adding more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the health staff.
        To include more Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders in the health service delivery it is very important to gain their cultural respect. To get involved with any indigenous group of people it is of prime concern to gain their trust and establish a connection with them. This can be achieved by including their own people in the staff to understand their needs from their point of view (Hunt 2013). The Aboriginal people will feel more comfortable with the indigenous staffs and this will encourage them to take more interest in health services.

        Funding healthcare services for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

        The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are quite poor; they do not have financial means to opt for high-quality healthcare services. These people feel may feel intimidated to approach the services if the cost of treatments is beyond what they can afford et al 2015). Therefore, it is necessary to fund their healthcare services by the organizations or the government on their behalf; this will encourage them to participate in the healthcare service delivery.

   • Identify three (3) reasons why it is important to recognize and use culturally appropriate and safe work practices in the workplace.
     The three reasons to recognize culturally appropriate and safe workplaces are:
     1. To make people feel safe physically
        A person will feel secure to continue working in a certain environment only if he feels safe while working in the certain environment. The Aboriginal and Torres Islanders requires to understand that they will be safe physically, if they do not feel so they can retaliate in a violent manner leading to loss of lives on both the indigenous tribes and the people trying to work with them (Baba 2013) Therefore, it is important to practice culturally safe work practices.
     2. To ensure emotional safety
        as emotionally involved with their roots (Funston 2013). Safeguarding their emotional needs is important to maintain an effective communication with them.
     3. To preserve cultural identity.
        The identity of an individual is related to their culture and society, thus it is important to encourage cultural safety practices to make the people feel content that their cultural interests are being safeguarded and valued (Samovar et al 2015). Every culture has their own norms, spiritual beliefs, these practices should be preserved and understood for the sake of preservation of these indigenous tribes.
   • Explain one (1) way of identifying if a workplace practice is culturally safe.
     Following cultural protocols ensures a workplace to be culturally safe. Certain protocols have been set to protect the cultural interest of particular groups of people; especially the indigenous groups, if these protocols are being followed then one can safely assume that a workplace is safe for the culturally diverse people (Madsen and Mabokela 2013). Cultural safety protocol includes showing respect to others, seeking knowledge about other cultures and learning about them, one should maintain the integrity of the cultural norms and interpret the practices accordingly. To understand a different culture a person should take help from another who belongs from that culture (Cournoyer 2016 ). Following the assessed and provided protocols should ensure a comfortable working environment for people belonging to various cultures.
   • It is common for younger Aboriginal people to refer to their elders as ‘Auntie' or ‘Uncle'. This is used as a term of respect and acknowledgment of their seniority. List two (2) strategies you could use to demonstrate respect for a person and their culture in the workplace.
   • The two strategies that can be used to demonstrate respect for a person belonging to a different culture is:

   Engaging in Conversations
   Flexibility and Self Awareness: One of the important ways to learn about other cultures or religion is to be aware of one’s own beliefs and ideologies, it is important to be aware of the existence of various other cultures that exist in the society. A person should always be willing to adapt with other cultures, it is of key importance to realize that world is a global village and one should always treat others as the way he himself wants to be treated, that is, with respect and politeness.

   • Identify three (3) strategies for developing effective relationships with a person from another culture.
     The three strategies to develop an effective relationship with a person from another culture are explained below:

   Enquiring people about their cultures, ideologies, and beliefs
   To develop an effective relationship with people belonging to other cultures one has to understand their beliefs and cultural norms, so asking questions to those people is important to understand their perspective. Most of the times people revert positively and answer with enthusiasm, listening to their views and understanding them can provide insights into their culture.

   Showing genuine care
   To build any relationship it is of utmost importance that one shows that he cares enough about the other person and his culture. There will be certain awkwardness between two people who belong from completely different cultures but it should not get in the way of communication (Willen and Carpenter-Song 2013). Caring about people belonging to varied diversity builds a feeling of mutual trust and thus paves way for effective communication.

   Listening to Individual Stories
   A person can learn a lot by listening to various stories from people belonging to other cultures. Each and every individual has some story to tell about their experiences in life-related to their countries of origin, these stories provide some information about their particular cultures. One can learn a lot from hearing these stories

3. Self-determination
   • Self-determination is a process as well as a collective right exercised by peoples rather than individuals. The right to self-determination is the right to make decisions. The practical exercise of self-determination is central to Aboriginal health. Explain how would you ensure health care services and programs encourage self-determination and self-control to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people?

   Self-determination is the freedom of choosing one’s own destiny. The people enjoy the freedom to choose their own political, social as well as individual life. The characteristics of self-determination are freedom, stable government policies, the ability to control their own economic policies, and finally allowing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create their own knowledge base. There is a close relation between self-determination and the health of the indigenous community, if they lose self-determination there is a high chance of the people feeling angry and frustrated, which in turn can lead to the feelings of resentment hopelessness and depression. The health care services should concentrate on providing psychological help to the indigenous people to incorporate the feelings of dignity and determination in their mind so that they can control their own actions with responsibility (Kirmayer 2013). Feeling low can lead to the use of alcohol and drugs among the indigenous groups, the healthcare services should also undertake various programmes to make them aware about the negative effects of substance abuse and show them the importance of self-control. These steps can help the healthcare services to promote self-determination and self-control among Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.

4. Effective Partnership
   • Identify three (3) resources you would use to promote effective partnerships with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, organization and communities.

   The three resources to promote effective partnership with the indigenous community are:

   • Commitment
     To promote effective partnership with the Aboriginals and the indigenous tribes a feeling of mutual commitment should be built between the organization and the community (Willen and Carpenter-Song 2013). There should be trust between the community and others.
   • Respect
     This is another important aspect of building an effective partnership. The organization should respect their cultural ideologies, and only then a sustainable relationship can be achieved.
   • Responsibility
     The organizations take a serious responsibility when they negotiate and agree on certain terms with the indigenous tribes. They should maintain the integrity of their word and take responsibility in the joint partnership and achieve the goals together to maintain an effective partnership.
   • Why is forming mutual mentoring arrangements with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people important when providing healthcare and workplace services?
     Forming mutual mentoring arrangements with the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders is important to promote mutual respect, anti-racism, creating a close trustworthy relationship with the indigenous tribes. Mutual mentoring is also required to gain knowledge from them and to implement the same in developing the relationship with the tribes (Schwanenflugel 2013). The healthcare service providers face various problems in communication thus mutual mentoring can also help the Aboriginals to understand the workers better.
5. Advocate for anti-racism
   • Myths and stereotypes are a key component of racism. List three (3) strategies you could use to advocate for anti-racism in the workplace.
     • Creating Awareness
       To promote anti-racism at the workplace it is important to create awareness about racism. One should be made aware of the meaning of the word, and how it affects the employees as well as the community as a whole.
     • Promoting Good Practices
       Promoting good practices such as providing training to the employees to make them understand other cultures (Wiecek and Hamilton 2013). Getting involved with different communities to gain knowledge about them can also curb the chances of racism at work.
     • Empowering the Communities
       The most important way to stop racism in a workplace is to make the communities aware of their rights. Strict laws should be made within the organizations and implemented to protect these cultural communities from becoming victims of racism (Middleton 2013). They should be made aware of the ways they can seek help from higher authorities if they face racism at a workplace.
6. Cross-cultural Relationships
   An Aboriginal woman does not look you in the eye when you are asking her for her medical history and gives brief responses to your questions. You find her actions to be rude.
   • Identify two (2) ways you can make and maintain cross-cultural relationships.
     The two ways to build and maintain cross-cultural relationships are:
     • Self-education
       To establish an effective communication with a person belonging from another culture or having indigenous origins one must study the way they communicate, learn the ways which they consider to be polite and approachable (Heine 2015). Researching their methods of communication and their lifestyle is important to build a relationship with them, and to sustain that relationship the person should try to establish a feeling of mutual trust.
   • Being Humble and Patient
     Trust and relationships cannot be built overnight, both these attributes take a serious amount of time to be achieved, thus having the patience to build a mutual bond is vital. Another important aspect of a cross cultural relationship is to be humble and accept any mistake with humility, being accustomed to a new culture takes time, in the meantime, one can make mistakes while interacting with people belonging to other cultures (Thomas and Peterson 2017). The person should be humble enough to accept that.
   • List two (2) strategies you could use to sensitively and respectfully communicate in a cross-cultural context.
     • Use a Proper Greeting
       The foremost way of a respectful communication is to learn what kind of greeting is appropriate for the particular community (Cooper 2015). Greeting someone in their traditional way creates an immediate feeling of connection between the persons; the other person appreciates the effort and the respect and reciprocates likewise.
     • Spending time with the Community
       Another way of understanding a means of respectful communication is to spend time with the particular community (Glass and Westmont 2014). A person should be willing to get out of his comfort zone and communicate with others to establish a relationship with them.

References:

Baba, L., 2013. Cultural safety in First Nations, Inuit, and Métispublic health: Environmental scan of cultural competency and safety in education, training and health services Prince George, British Columbia, Canada: National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health.

Cooper, D., 2015. Effective safety leadership: Understanding types & styles that improve safety performance.  Professional Safety60(2), p.49.

Cournoyer, B.R., 2016. The social work skills workbook Cengage Learning.

Funston, L., 2013. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander worldviews and cultural safety transforming sexual assault service provision for children and young people. International journal of environmental research and public health, 10(9), pp.3818-3833.

Gair, S., Miles, D., Savage, D. and Zuchowski, I., 2015. Racism unmasked: The experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in social work field placements. Australian Social Work, 68<(1), pp.32-48.

Glass, C.R., and Westmont, C.M., 2014. Comparative effects of belongingness on the academic success and cross-cultural interactions of domestic and international students. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 38, pp.106-119.

Heine, S.J., 2015. Cultural Psychology Third International Student Edition WW Norton & Company.

Hunt, J., 2013. Engaging with Indigenous Australia exploring the conditions for effective relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Kirmayer, L.J., 2013. Embracing uncertainty as a path to competence: Cultural safety, empathy, and alterity in clinical training. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 37 (2), pp.365-372.

Madsen, J.A., and Mabokela, R.O., 2013. Culturally relevant schools: Creating positive workplace relationships and preventing intergroup differences. Routledge.

Middleton, R., 2013. Active learning and leadership in an undergraduate curriculum: How effective is it for student learning and transition to practice?.  Nurse Education in Practice, 13 (2), pp.83-88.

Samovar, L.A., Porter, R.E., McDaniel, E.R. and Roy, C.S., 2015. Communication between cultures. Nelson Education.

Schwanenflugel, P.J. ed., 2013. The psychology of word meanings. Psychology Press.

Thomas, D.C. and Peterson, M.F., 2017. Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts. Sage Publications.

Wiecek, W.M. and Hamilton, J.L., 2013. Beyond the Civil Rights Act of 1964: confronting structural racism in the workplace.La. L. Rev., 74, p.1095.

Willen, S.S., and Carpenter-Song, E., 2013.Cultural competence in action:“Lifting the hood” on four case studies in medical education.