Cultural Safety in Healthcare

Running head: CULTURAL SAFETY IN HEALTHCARE 1
Cultural Safety in Healthcare
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation

CULTURAL SAFETY IN HEALTHCARE 2
Introduction
The Royal Darwin Hospital is located in the Northern Territory and serves most of the
Aboriginal and Torres Islander people. About 90% of the patients in the hospital are the
Indigenous Australians, and hence, this explains the need to provide culturally appropriate
healthcare that addresses their unique needs. Health literacy and effective communication play a
crucial role in delivering culturally safe healthcare. A position statement that incorporates the
importance of health literacy and effective communication is key to providing a culturally safe
environment.
Part 1
The Royal Darwin hospital is keen on ensuring effective health communication and
health literacy to help deliver culturally safe care. The Royal Darwin hospital acknowledges the
fact that improving communication and health literacy has a significant impact on improving
access to health services by the Aboriginal people and hence, improving their health outcomes.
The hospital also acknowledges the fact that poor communication and health literacy are barriers
to promoting culturally safe health care among the Aboriginal people (Cultural safety crucial in
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare, 2018).
The hospital resolves to improve communication with the Aboriginal and Torres Islander
people by overcoming the language barrier by employing more Aboriginal staff. The
organization also aims at enhancing communication by avoiding the use of complex words and
using models, images, diagrams, and DVDs to help explain important terms, concepts, and
instructions. The organization believes that improving health care professionals' communication
is key to ensuring that they deliver culturally appropriate health care services. The Organization,
therefore, intends to improve their communication by training them on how the Aboriginal

CULTURAL SAFETY IN HEALTHCARE 3
people perceive Rapport, language, time, personal space, touch, silence, eye contact, and non-
verbal communication. For instance, the organization is keen on ensuring that the health care
workers understand the nonverbal communication methods used by the Aboriginal people have a
different meaning from the western context (Wynia & Osborn, 2010).
The organization is also keen on ensuring that the health workers understand the fact that
the Aboriginal people value silence during conversations and hence they should observe body
language and silence to know when it is appropriate for them to speak. The organization is also
keen on ensuring that healthcare professionals understand that Aboriginal people consider
avoiding eye contact as a sign of respect. This is different from the western culture, which views
avoiding eye contact as being rude or dishonest (Cultural safety crucial in Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander healthcare, 2018).
The Royal Darwin hospital understands the fact that the Indigenous people with poor
health literacy fail to make informed health choices. They cannot also utilize health information
and the hence lacking the ability to maintain good health. The Royal Darwin hospital is keen on
improving health literacy among the Indigenous Australians to promote healthy behaviors,
reduce the morbidity and mortality rates, to improve the health status and improve the
communication with health care providers. The organization aims at improving health literacy
among the Aboriginal people by reducing the barriers through utilizing the language services and
ensuring that health information is accessible (Ana Dell et al., 2014). Secondly, the organization
aims at improving health literacy by ensuring that it provides health information materials in
English and use symbols, diagrams, and pictures. Lastly, the organization seeks to increase
health literacy among the Aboriginal people through working with the communities to ensure