Reflective Writing Assesment Report

Running Head: REFLECTIVE WRITING 1
REFLECTIVE WRITING

REFLECTIVE WRITING 2
“All Australians need to understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’
history and culture”
My initial response to this statement is that I partially disagree with the concept that
everyone needs to understand “Aboriginal and Torres Strait history and culture”. Australian
society is diversified and consists of many immigrants and people from different types of
cultures. It is nearly impossible for all people, who are not native to Australia to know
regarding “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ history” however, to co-exist it is
important to know regarding their culture (Davy et al, 2016). The “Aboriginal and Torres
Strait peoples” have a rich and oldest living culture in the world. There are richness and
diversity in their history and culture. All people are not involved in working with them hence
it is not possible to get their interest in acknowledging their history and culture. However, for
a health professional, it becomes essential to acknowledge the history and culture of the
member of this population. It allows serving them in a better manner. In the absence of
knowledge regarding their history and culture, it might become difficult to deliver care that
suites their ideas, values, and beliefs.
An alternative view includes that it is essential to understand the “Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples’ history and culture” for all people. As they are the natives of the
country. Most of the Australian land belonged to them till before colonization when their
lands had been forcefully been snatched and they had been displaced (Askew et al, 2017). To
co-exists, it is important that we know each person's culture as it is an integral part that makes
us. Understanding their history and culture will enable us to realize their way of life, their
ideas, customs, values, and social behaviors. Without such knowledge, I will not have an
adequate understanding regarding them and will not be able to cater to their healthcare needs
appropriately.

REFLECTIVE WRITING 3
Healthcare professionals work across a varied domain of the population. As a healthcare
professional, I will need to interact and work with people from diversified cultures and also
serve people from different cultures. As the indigenous population comprises of the oldest
inhabitants of the region, they have a sizable proportion in the current population hence their
healthcare needs have to be attended to. Having a concrete understanding regarding the
indigenous peoples' history and culture will enable them to serve them in a much sensitive
manner. It will also allow understanding the disparities in health that exist between the
indigenous and non-indigenous populations (Canuto et al, 2018). Moreover, from the study of
their history and culture, I was able to know that the indigenous population faces high-risk
factors from a large number of diseases. The indigenous population is averted to approach
healthcare professionals in the case of many diseases and ailments. Moreover, as per their
cultural traditions, they have their system for curing disease. Without this knowledge, I would
not have been able to serve them in an appropriate manner. It is important to retain such
knowledge and work in a cross-cultural framework.
“Health professionals’ own cultural beliefs influence their health care decisions”
My response to the above statement is that I agree health professionals' own cultural
beliefs affect their health care decisions. We are all born and brought up in our cultures and
beliefs. It encompasses an entire set of value systems and defines who we are and what we
do. It ascertains the way we function in our regular lives and does impact our professional
practice as well, as it forms a background system for core values. Cultural differences affect
all aspects of health care decisions. Culture has a huge role in medical interaction that
healthcare professionals do (Brown et al, 2016). It affects the way in which one views illness
or treatment, as in my culture some diseases are dreaded more than others. One's cultural