Cultural Competence In Health Care : Practices Of Campaigns

Describe about the Cultural Competence in Health Care for Practices of Campaigns.

 

1. Practices of campaigns like ‘Close the Gap’ may be implemented by humans in daily lives. Working with the Aboriginal children and families may be fruitful for the entire community. Providing health care to Aborigines without any racial and cultural discrimination is very pivotal to provide better health care to the Aborigines. The campaign aims at closing the gap between the Australian Aborigines and the non Aborigines. More and more health care programs for the Aborigines may prove to be quite helpful. Commitment of time to the people by workers and practitioners would help to develop the framework. To provide better health services, it is essential to gain knowledge and understand the health problems that the Aborigines suffer. It is essential to achieve cultural equality. Then only it would be possible to increase the life expectancy of the group (Moorhead, 2013). Moreover, such campaigns must be interactive with the people so that they can address their issues and health needs. This interaction of the Aborigines and the non Aborigines would ensure complete full participation on both sides. Only when one group respects the culture and language of another group, the discrimination can be diminished and equality can be ensured (Tynan et al., 2013).

 

2. A culturally responsiveness is a framework that allows each and every person to receive high quality healthcare services without any racial, ethnic, religious, or ethnic discrimination. Such a framework helps to address and understand the links between language, ethnicity, and culture. This helps in improving healthcare services to culturally and ethnically diverse population. Moreover, plunging cultural responsiveness is a viable strategy in healthcare systems for it helps in diminishing disparities generated as a result of religious, race, and language differences (Best, 2014). The cultural responsiveness framework consolidates multiple requirements. The aim is to align planning and strengthen documentation of the existing policies. It helps and supports accreditation processes and supports healthcare services so that the service providers work systematically and holistically on the issues related to healthcare practices. Moreover, it establishes clearer measures and standards to assess achievement of healthcare programs. By being culturally responsive, medical practitioners would be more responsible and unbiased in treating culturally and ethnically diverse population. Providing a culturally safe provision is the key strategy of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in healthcare. The aim of such commissions can be achieved by acting on the links between cultural safety and adverse events. Equality in health care does not merely mean that everyone would receive equal health needs. Rather it ensures that every person gets the required heath care and the needs are equally met. It has been widely argued that a lack of culturally responsive care is a major cause of health disparities.  Cultural responsiveness framework is a measure to ameliorate the cultural and ethnic differences (Moorhead, 2013).

 

 

3. Tynan, Smullen, Atkinson, and Stephens talk about the health outcomes of Australian Aboriginals. Cultural competence is considered one of the five priorities for the ‘Close the health Gap’ Plan (Tynan et al., 2013). The authors have identified three issues in the developmental process of the competence program. They are- “internal dynamics of the working party”, “a human rights approach is embedded in the framework and audit tool,” and “implementation issues”. The Close the Gap Campaign addresses the poor health outcomes. A separate Steering Committee has been established to watch the development of the audit tool and the framework. The five areas of focus that is, Partnership and engagement, public image, culturally competent services, organizational effectiveness, and workforce development show the broadness of the framework. Honesty of some representatives, identifying lack of knowledge about the health of Aboriginals and the will to learn prompted the development of the audit tool and the framework. A significant amount of time given by the working members played a crucial role. However, the CTG approach focuses on the model of Aboriginal society that is based on deficit. It is mostly concerned about standards. There are also issues regarding audit statements that are ‘advocacy- related’ (Tynan et al., 2013). Moreover, there is also a risk of mandatory framework in the absence of proper funding.

 

4. The deep seated psychological perspective that racial prejudice is a normal aspect of human cognition must be uprooted. Using web- based tools to demonstrate unconscious stereotyping, and selected readings can be helpful. Instead of suppressing the discussion of stereotypes, it must be discussed and acknowledged openly. Lack of a positive experience while encountering interracial situations may make both the patient and the health care provider anxious. This can be reduced by establishing a direct contact between the racial groups (Johnstone et al., 2015).

 

5. Health care is very much a social encounter for it involves taking care of ethnically and culturally diverse people. Health care is a social process that involves participation of at least two humans. It is a person who provides diagnosis, treatment, medicines, and preventive measures to another person. Prescription of medicines, taking care, and treating a patient requires providers. Taking a medicine on one’s own is not a healthcare process and thus not social for it does not involve another person in the process. Even though latest technological advancement has reduced human labor and more and more utilization of machines, major operations like heart transplant requires human hand. Thus, there is an interaction between the patient and the medical practitioner (Davis et al., 2014). Even the simplest task of taking care of a patient is a social encounter. Such encounters are routinely done in hospitals and medical care centers. Health care provisions are thus for the good of people and the society as a whole. Neurological and mental health care are especially based on social encounters. Isolation may make a person psychologically ill and the treatment would require social interaction of the individual. The provision and distribution of food, water, and medicines is done by humans thereby increasing the interaction between humans. Health care services are thus categorized into goods that are essentially social (Durey, 2013).

References

Best, O. (2014). The cultural safety journey: an Australian nursing context. In Yatdjuligin Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nursing and Midwifery Care (pp. 51-73). Cambridge, Melbourne, Australia.

Davis, J., Williamson, M., & Chapman, Y. (2014). The practice of rural nursing and midwifery. Rural Nursing: The Australian Context, 46.

Durey, A. (2013). Reducing racism in Aboriginal health care in Australia: where does cultural education fit?. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 34(s1), S87-S92.

Hall, J. M., & Fields, B. (2013). Continuing the conversation in nursing on race and racism. Nursing outlook, 61(3), 164-173.

Johnstone, M. J., Hutchinson, A. M., Rawson, H., & Redley, B. (2016). Assuaging death anxiety in older overseas-born Australians of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds hospitalised for end-of-life care.Contemporary nurse, (just-accepted), 1-32.

Johnstone, M. J., Hutchinson, A. M., Redley, B., & Rawson, H. (2015). Nursing Roles and Strategies in End-of-Life Decision Making Concerning Elderly Immigrants Admitted to Acute Care Hospitals An Australian Study.Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 1043659615582088.

Kirmayer, L. (2012). Rethinking cultural competence. Transcultural Psychiatry, 49(2), 149.

Liaw, S. T., Lau, P., Pyett, P., Furler, J., Burchill, M., Rowley, K., & Kelaher, M. (2011). Successful chronic disease care for Aboriginal Australians requires cultural competence. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 35(3), 238-248.

Moorhead, S. (2013). Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC), Measurement of Health Outcomes, 5: Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC). Elsevier Health Sciences.

Truong, M., Paradies, Y., & Priest, N. (2014). Interventions to improve cultural competency in healthcare: a systematic review of reviews. BMC health services research, 14(1), 1.

Tynan, M., Smullen, F., Atkinson, P., & Stephens, K. (2013). Aboriginal cultural competence for health services in regional Victoria: lessons for implementation. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 37(4), 392-393.