Cultural Identity and Healthcare in Australia

Running Head: CULTURAL IDENTITY AND HEALTHCARE IN AUSTRALIA
Cultural Identity and Healthcare in Australia
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CULTURAL IDENTITY AND HEALTHCARE IN AUSTRALIA
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Cultural Identity and Healthcare in Australia
Introduction
Cultural identity can be described as a sense of belonging within a given group. Cultural
identity is formed due to the companionship anchored on similar social structures, beliefs,
languages, and traditions (Chang et al. 2017). It is specific and unique for every person and is not
universally or globally the same. Therefore, when an individual is removed or migrates from a
community, his or her physical and mental health can be adversely affected due to a lost sense of
belonging and self. Cultural identity is a vital factor for health experts to consider as culturally
sensitive practices need to be done to ensure that each person is attended to effectively, and
encouraged to maintain safe and good health. The paper will reflect on how cultural identity
influences individuals’ and community health.
Significance of the nurses understanding cultural identity in Australia
Sensitivity as well as understanding of personal, cultural identity is significant when
working as a health care provider. In spite of the typical social and economic challenges involved
in the health inequalities the effect of a lack of sensitivity and understanding towards an
individual’s cultural identity as well as a health need to be considered too. In Australia, for
instance, the culture and belief of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander do not allow them to
discuss their health as it is linked to their land. Some of the Aboriginal cultures do not even
encourage mental healthcare providers discussing mental issues in the country as mental health is
not encouraged in their culture. Thus, when a healthcare provider works in Australia, he or she
must appropriately understand the culture of the people (Shepherd, 2019).

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. Our cultural lens normally influences how we understand other people and how we relate
with them in society. Examination of cultural identity requires a consistent focus on the
objectivity as well as the appreciation that nurses might not always view or see things the same
way as other people do. In Australia, a nurse needs to understand that the people have a unique
connection to the land and cannot be compared with any other connection in Western society
(O’Rourke et al. 2018). It is normally easy to know why some of the Australians were referred to
as the ‘country’ which loosely translated to collectively include their storytelling technique,
water, air, and land. In the class session, our lecturer stated to us that Australians especially the
indigenous people believed that humans, culture and nature are all linked to a single relationship
with the country. In some western culture, the connection with the country is usually
incomparable, and there is no actual homeland or identification to the land (Renzaho, Dhingra &
Georgeou, 2017). Even though the Australian population’s respect for their country can be
admired, it is normally burdensome, that is, as moving via region entails leaving community and
identity behind as well as their original land. Therefore, a professional and registered nurse
working in Australia has to clearly understand the connection between land and health needs for
both the aboriginals and the non-indigenous people.
Culture is described as a common experience which is shared via language as well as
other symbols. In Australia, English is the national language while there are additional 200
languages spoken by over 200 diverse linguistic and cultural individuals they represent (Frew &
White, 2015). Language has been viewed as vital cultural expression and the main method of
people to understand, construct and share with the environment around them. A nurse working in
Australia must, thus, understand the diversity of languages in the country. There is a huge benefit
for a nurse that is either multilingual or bilingual, especially one that mirrors the demographic