Assignment about Indigenous Health and Cultural Safety

Running head: INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CULTURAL SAFETY
INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CULTURAL SAFETY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INDIGENOUS HEALTH AND CULTURAL SAFETY
Cultural safety:
Cultural safety can be defined as the environment, which is emotionally, socially and
spiritually safe along with the safety of the people, a community environment where people
does not experiences assault concern or where people do not deny their duty and identity
(Taylor & Guerin, 2019). Cultural safety was first originated in the region of New Zealand by
nursing practitioners. New Zealand stimulated this conception concerning the cultural safety
of Maori nurses (McGough, Wynaden & Wright, 2018). Cultural safety is also applied for the
Torres and Aboriginal Strait Islander population for their cultural safety, where people can
feel secure and safe within their own culture and secure with their identity and community
association. The conception is also redefined by VACCA (Victorian Aboriginal Child Care
Agency) as the function or concept implied for promoting the benefits of a mainstream
environment that is considered to be culturally competent. Healthcare organizations and
health practitioners should engage their efforts and expertise in engage in improving the state
of cultural consciousness and cultural safety (Laverty, McDermott & Calma, 2017). The
approach and programs involved in accomplishing cultural safety require the need for
accomplishing health equity. The healthcare institutions should be accountable for
stimulating cultural safety care for the patients and the associated communities. Although, the
concept evolved from the origin it still needed strategies for integrating the framework into
healthcare practices (Parisa et al., 2016).
History and policies past and present – Impact on health:
The introduction of the conception of cultural safety was first introduced during the
1980s and 1990s (early). The terminologies emerged in context with the nursing education
and indicated concerns that were impacting the nursing practice of the Indigenous students.
After the significance of cultural safety was recognized within the healthcare system, the
concept started demanding the developmental strategies for better service delivery, which can

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improve the opportunities of cultural diversity in health care practice and education as well as
in seeking healthcare services by the Aboriginals (Mackean et al., 2019). In the current
scenario, the application of a culturally safe atmosphere is still rare within the context of
delivering services with insufficient numbers of Indigenous professionals within healthcare.
However, the state of deliver9y equitable well-being programs and services for the
Indigenous population in Australia and New Zealand is improving, marking growth in the
overall well-being of the nation (CRH.org.au, 2020). The policy or framework dedicated to
the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is being stimulated
for helping mainstream community services and the health of Victorian Health. The policy
indicates the necessity of adopting responsibility by the mainstream institutions for
integrating and working together towards a culturally safe workplace and service delivery
system (DHHS.vic.gov.au, 2020). Moreover, cultural safety can be considered as the
approach for addressing gaps within social and health outcomes amongst Australian
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (AIHW.gov.au, 2019).
Indigenous health statistics today:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are considered as the population in
Australia comprising hundreds of groups, which has own distinctive language, cultural
traditions, and histories. According to the data of 2017-2018, it has been reflected that around
98 percent of Aboriginals demonstrated formal commitment to offering culturally safe
services in the purview of health care and well-being. Amongst 70 percent of the
organizations, around 41 percent of employed health staff were indigenous (CRH.org.au,
2020). During the period ranging between 2013 to the year 2017, 234 to 363 medical
practitioners were Aboriginal. Australia also experienced a growth of Indigenous midwives
and nurses in Australia to 3540 from 2,434 (Usher et al., 2017). During the period between
2017-2019, around 85 percent of the Indigenous population in Australia were satisfied with
the healthcare services and respect offered through institutions. Approximately 95 percent of

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primary healthcare providers of the Indigenous population reflected a formal commitment to
offering culturally safer services. During 2017, 9.8 per thousand people was the rate of age-
specific death rate amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
(AIHW.gov.au, 2019). The mortality rate of infants was higher by double the rate for the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in comparison to non-indigenous. The
main causes of deaths during 2017 amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
communities were diabetes, respiratory diseases, heart diseases and cancer (AIHW.gov.au,
2019).
Success stories in Indigenous health:
One of the success stories of Indigenous health can be witnessed by the eye care
program, Collaborated team care assisted a culturally safe program for eye care in the Karadi
Aboriginal Corporation. One of the clients of Karadi presents a successful case of a 60-year-
old woman who was tested by an eye doctor for the first time in her life. The literacy level
restricted her opportunity of being tested. The patient was embarrassed about being tested as
she was afraid of being exposed to words and letters, which she would not be able to read.
However, this program changed her life with better vision and respected healthcare service
delivery (MSPGH.unimelb.edu.au, 2019). Another initiative of a mobile dialysis truck was
introduced for improving the emotional and social well-being amongst the Indigenous
patients, where earlier they gad the obligation of relocating for dialysis (Conway et al., 2018).
This initiative not only helped the indigenous population by bringing the services to them but
also helped to build a link between remote patients and metropolitan nurses. The above-
mentioned success story established the benefits for both patients and nurses by projecting
opportunities even for the nursing staff members to learn cultural safety in healthcare service
delivery (Mkandawire-Valhmu, 2018).

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Reflection
From the above discussion, I learned the benefits of learning cultural safety. This
terminology was not prevalent in the past but with the increasing concerns about equal
opportunities and rights for Aboriginals Australians, the concept has shaped its significant
implications in various areas, especially the healthcare sector. I have learned that cultural
safety acts as a security practice for the aboriginals in accomodating equitable educational
and healthcare services. I believe with the focus of educational and health practitioners over
employing cultural safety practices can lead to the improvement of the overall social structure
and national health status, through both physical and mental well-being.

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References:
AIHW.gov.au (2019). Cultural safety in health care for Indigenous Australians: monitoring
framework, Summary - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Retrieved from
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/cultural-safety-health-care-
framework/contents/summary
Conway, J., Lawn, S., Crail, S., & McDonald, S. (2018). Indigenous patient experiences of
returning to country: a qualitative evaluation on the Country Health SA Dialysis
bus. BMC health services research, 18(1), 1010.
CRH.org.au (2020). Cultural Safety Policy - CRH - Centre for Remote Health. Retrieved
from https://www.crh.org.au/cultural-safety-policy
DHHS.vic.gov.au (2020). Department of Health and Human Services Victoria | Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety framework. Retrieved from
https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/publications/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-
cultural-safety-framework
Laverty, M., McDermott, D. R., & Calma, T. (2017). Embedding cultural safety in
Australia’s main health care standards. The Medical Journal of Australia, 207(1), 15-
16.
Mackean, T., Fisher, M., Friel, S., & Baum, F. (2019). A framework to assess cultural safety
in Australian public policy. Health promotion international.
McGough, S., Wynaden, D., & Wright, M. (2018). Experience of providing cultural safety in
mental health to Aboriginal patients: A grounded theory study. International journal
of mental health nursing, 27(1), 204-213.
Mkandawire-Valhmu, L. (2018). Cultural safety, healthcare and vulnerable Populations: A
critical theoretical perspective. Routledge.

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MSPGH.unimelb.edu.au (2019). Culturally Safe Eye Care at Karadi. Retrieved from
https://mspgh.unimelb.edu.au/centres-institutes/centre-for-health-equity/research-
group/ieh/roadmap/share-your-story/karadi
Parisa, B., Reza, N., Afsaneh, R., & Sarieh, P. (2016). Cultural safety: An evolutionary
concept analysis. Holistic nursing practice, 30(1), 33-38.
Taylor, K., & Guerin, P. (2019). Health care and Indigenous Australians: cultural safety in
practice. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Usher, K., Mills, J., West, R., & Power, T. (2017). Cultural safety in nursing and
midwifery. Contexts of Nursing: An Introduction, 337.