Working with diverse people
- 1. Give one (1) example regarding each of the following aspects that make up your culture: attitudes, languages, prejudices, and structures
Answer-1.
- Attitudes- In the Punjabi culture, attitudes are mainly the beliefs regarding something. It may or may not be positive towards someone or something.
- Languages- Punjabi is the main language in my culture. Besides Punjabi, people also speak Hindi and English in Punjabi culture.
- Prejudice- Most of the orthodox Punjabi people have a prejudice against people who eat non-vegetarian food.
- Structures- Respecting elders and believing in god is something which makes the strong structure of my culture.
- 2. Give one (1) example of a cultural perspective or bias you hold. Explain how this cultural perspective or bias may limit your practice as an Enrolled Nurse.
Answer-2
I myself do not hold any cultural perspective or bias which may limit my practice as an enrolled nurse. Some orthodox people in my culture may hold some type of cultural perspective or bias but no one in my family including myself hold it.
It also varies from person to person.
- 3. Explain how you would work with or address the perspective or bias you identified in Q2, to ensure it does not negatively impact on your practice as a health services assistant.
Answer-3.
As I mentioned in the above question, there are no perspectives and biases which may create a hindrance in my practice as a health services assistant.
- 4. Reflect on your ability to work inclusively and with an understanding of others. a) Identify one (1) aspect of practice you do well in health care setting. b) Identify one (1) aspect of practice you could improve in health care setting c) How could you improve the aspect of practice you identified in Q3?
Answer-4.
- a) I personally hold an opinion that I am very good at teamwork. I work very well and in very good co-ordination to my fellow staff members. In addition to this, I also believe that my communication skills are persuasive which help the patients/ residents in a health care to trust me more easily as compared to people with poor communication skills.
- b) One aspect which I think I can improve by working in a health care setting is my knowledge about the diversity.
- c) By working in a health care sector, I certainly believe that my problem-solving skills are going to improve, and I will be able to gain knowledge about the broad diversity.
- 5. Think about the experiences you have had with people from cultures other than your own. Explain how these experiences impacted on your personal behaviour, relationships with others, and perceptions and expectations of others. Give three (3) examples.
Answer-5
I belong to Punjabi culture and not very long ago I made a friend from a Muslim culture. Before her I never came across someone from a Muslim culture.
When I met her for the first time, I was quite rude to her because I always had a prejudice against their culture but ass I got to know her better, my behavior completely changed towards her and today my relationship is so good that it is beyond expectations. Encountering one experience with a person from the Muslim culture totally changed my perception about the Muslim culture.
- 6. Identify the skills, knowledge or attitudes you need to develop to ensure cultural competency in your role as an Enrolled Nurse.
Answer 6.
- Monitoring yourself.
- Communication skills
- Persuasion skills
- Knowledge about all kids of cultures
- Positive approach towards everything and everyone
- Rapport building
- Empathy
- Resilience
- 7. Think about the experiences you have had with people from different areas of diversity in health care setting.
- a) Give one (1) example of where you have recognized and respected the needs of people from diverse social and cultural backgrounds.
- b) Give one (1) example of difficulties when trying to communicate with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people specifically.
- c) Backgrounds may include key areas of diversity such as culture, race, ethnicity, spiritual beliefs, religion, disability, gender (transgender, intersex, sexual orientation/sexual identity - lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual). How can you identify their cultural needs, its characteristics and what can you do to ensure that their cultural needs are respected?
Answer 7
- a) One day I was shopping, and I saw a lady from the Hindu culture struggling to speak English with the salesgirl. So, I acted like a translator for her to solve her problem so that she doesn’t have to struggle anymore.
- b) The main problem while talking to indigenous people is of non-verbal communication and appropriate gestures which are to be used in front of the indigenous people. Example: Eye contact is considered to be a sign of confidence in the western culture, but it is considered to be rude in indigenous people’s culture.
- c) Every human is equal irrespective of what background they come from. The main characteristics of culture include beliefs, values, religious symbols, etc. No one deserves to be treated unfairly no matter what culture, race, ethnicity, spiritual beliefs, religion, disability, gender they belong to and awareness should be spread all around the world to ensure that their cultural needs are respected.
- 8. Explain briefly and give examples of resources that support individuals and organizations to embrace and respond to diversity. Explain the use of language/cultural interpreters and imagery in your response.
Answer 8
There are many resources on the internet as well as around us which support individuals and organisations to embrace and respond to diversity. Some organisations help people with mental health issues, some help with charity for the poor and deprived people, others help with disability issues. A few examples of these resources are:
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- Victorian Transcultural Mental Health (VTMH)
- National Ethnic Disability Alliance ( NEDA)
- Mental Health in Multicultural Australia ( MHMA)
An interpreter’s role is to facilitate communication between two or more people who use different languages, being either spoken or signed. The interpreter is not responsible for what is said by either individual but is responsible for ensuring that everything that is said is communicated accurately in the other language.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the first inhabitants of Australia. Aboriginal people comprise diverse Aboriginal nations, each with their own language and traditions and have historically lived on mainland Australia, Tasmania or on many of the continent's offshore islands. Torres Strait Islander peoples come from the islands of the Torres Strait, between the tip of Cape York in Queensland and Papua New Guinea. Torres Strait Islanders are of Melanesian origin with their own distinct identity, history and cultural traditions.
Many Torres Strait Islanders live on mainland Australia. Today, the term ‘Indigenous Australian’ is used to encompass both Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people.
However, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people do not like to be referred to as ‘Indigenous’ as the term is considered too generic. Aboriginal people have referred to themselves for example as Koori, Murri or Nunga, which is relevant to the greater region they are connected to. Aboriginal identities can also directly link to their language groups and traditional country (a specific geographic location), for example, Gunditjamara people are the traditional custodians of western Victoria, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation are from Sydney, and the Yawuru people are the traditional custodians of Broome in Western Australia. Another way Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people might describe themselves, which again relates to their country (including the waters), is ‘saltwater people’ for those who live on the coast, or ‘freshwater’, ‘rainforest’, ‘desert’ or ‘spinifex’ for people who live in that ecological environment. Torres Strait Islander people prefer to use the name of their home Island to identify themselves to outsiders, for example a Saibai man or woman is from Saibai, or a Meriam person is from Mer. Many Torres Strait Islanders born and raised in mainland Australia still identify according to their Island homes.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have always experienced various forms of disadvantage, including higher unemployment rates, poverty, isolation, trauma, discrimination, exposure to violence, trouble with the law and alcohol and substance abuse.
There are also many of social, political and economic issues which have affected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffer greater health burdens compared to the non-Aboriginal population. Poor health status of Aboriginal peoples is due to economic disadvantage, resource alienation and political oppression. In addition to this, income and education impact on an individual’s ability to ‘engage’ and ‘influence’ society. Indigenous Australians are known to have the lowest economic status of all Australians. Poor socio-economic, education and employment levels have links to financial hardship, poverty, debt, homelessness, family breakdown, social isolation and crime. Indigenous Australians suffer disproportionately high levels of domestic violence and over-representation in the justice system. Other than this, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience extreme levels of racism in Australia. The trauma of the “THE STOLEN GENERATION” has also left a major impact on the indigenous people. The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descents who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. All aspects of Aboriginal society have been directly affected by British colonisation. Land use, law, spiritual beliefs and ways of life have been traumatised. Aboriginal society has felt the full force of the invasion and it is arguable that traditional Aboriginal family life and the supporting kinship structures have taken the maximum disruptive impact, especially in areas of greatest non-Aboriginal population density. This is particularly evident in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, where some groups have disappeared completely, and others have been dislocated and no longer use their languages.
The low status of Indigenous people especially compared to the wider Australian community is a national and international disgrace. There are no quick fixes - it may take years to see appreciable improvements - but the framework needs to be laid to make change happen. Addressing the issues underpinning this situation is fundamental not only to achieving equity in health outcomes for Aboriginal people but is central to achieving a sustainable quality of life within all our Australian communities.
References:
- Daes, E 2000, “Striving for self-determination for indigenous peoples” in In pursuit of the right to self-determination, Kly, Y and Kly, D (eds.), p. 57.
- Gillies, C 2013, ‘Establishing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the Minimum Standard for All Forensic Practice with Australian Indigenous Peoples’, Australian Psychologist, 48, 1, pp. 14-27.
- Hinton, M 1997, “Sentencing and Indigenous Australians—Addressing overrepresentation from within the criminal justice system”. In E. Johnston, M. Hinton, & D. Rigney (Eds.), Indigenous Australians and the law (pp. 64–85). Sydney: Cavendish Publishing (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
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- www.staff.vu.edu.au
- WWW.alrc.gov.au
- www.aussiechildcarenetwork.com.au
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- http://www.staff.vu.edu.au/
- http://www.alrc.gov.au/
- http://www.aussiechildcarenetwork.com.au/
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