Gibbs Model Reflection: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

This report presents a reflection on a nursing student's experiences and evolving attitudes towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, employing the Gibbs Model of reflection and the ABCD model of cultural assessment. The student initially held preconceived notions influenced by societal narratives, including beliefs about their civilization, education levels, reliance on traditional medicine, knowledge of diseases, dietary habits, clothing, and family planning practices. Through interaction with these communities, the student observed their warmth, education levels, and integration of traditions. The student discovered that Aboriginals utilized modern medicine and faced health challenges like lack of family planning knowledge, hygiene issues, and limited awareness of certain diseases. The reflection highlights the importance of cultural sensitivity, community involvement, and evidence-based practice in nursing. It concludes with the student's commitment to improving healthcare delivery by addressing the unique needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, particularly in family planning and hygiene practices, and utilizing a culturally sensitive approach to nursing care. The report also evaluates the impact of this assessment on the student's nursing practice, aligning with Graduate attributes and RN standards.

Name of student:
Registration number:
Subject name:
Unit Code:
Name of supervisor:
Date due:

Introduction
This study uses the Gibb`s Model of reflection to reflect upon the experiences and
attitudes towards the people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during my
interaction with them. This report discusses the attitudes previous beliefs, values and
attributes of the people before I met them and interacted with them (Stein-parbury,
2017). The paper uses the “ABCD” model of cultural assessment to examine their
practices and beliefs regarding health in their community. The paper will help in
understanding the people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander on community
health,understand the disease control measures they used and the treatment they
applied at that time.
The impact of using the Gibbs model to make reflections on decision making is also
evaluated. The final section of the paper is an evaluation of the impact that this
assessment will have on my nursing practice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people while applying the Graduate attributes and RN standards in the evaluation. The
report uses the Gibbs model of reflection steps to fulfill all the assessment
requirements.
Gibbs model is a learning model that is mostly used in the health profession and many
other professions to help a person reflect upon their past experiences and evaluate
how these experiences had impacted on them. It is divided into six stages(Waldram,
Herring &Young, 2016). The ABCD technique is a tool used to assess the culture and
social lives of a society. It involves evaluation of asset based community development
projects.

I had many beliefs and different attitudes towards the people of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander concerning different subjects. One of the attitudes that I have had about
the indigenous people of Australia is that they were uncivilized and unlearned.This
attitude was influenced by the many conversations that I heard from my fellow
students and other people who alleged to have interacted with these communities
(Wright-st. Clair, Reid, Shaw & Ramsbotham, 2014). From this stories and some
reading, I thought the indigenous people of Australia were so engraved in their culture
that they do not embrace education. I believed that very few people from the
community were learned and were mostly involved in their traditional economic
activities such as rearing of animals. The other assumption had about the indigenous
people of Australia is that they never consumed modern scientifically researched
medicines. The people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander are depicted in the
society as people who do not believe in things made scientifically. I thought that the
people depended on traditional medicine men and healers just like in the old days
when civilization and medicine had not evolved to this point. I believed that the
people depended on herbs and traditional medicine and were not ready for treatment
in modern hospitals or to undergo surgical procedures. I also believed that the
Aboriginal people have very limited knowledge on diseases and common illnesses in
the modern day. I assumed that the Aboriginals did not know of diseases such as
cancer, HIV, and Yellow fever.
Another belief that I had concerning the people Aboriginals and people of Torres
Islander is that they only ate traditional foods and wore traditional clothing. I thought
that the Aboriginals ate traditional foods such as Yams, Arrow roots, unprocessed
wheat and sorghum and they never ate industrially processed foods which are very
popular nowadays. I also thought that the people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islanders never wore modern clothing and used bushes and banana leaflets as
clothing.
Before interacting with the indigenous people of Australia, I thought that the people
were not aware of family planning methods and the significance of family planning.
The idea was that the rate of reproduction among these communities was very high
since the people are not informed on the need of family planning. The people are not
aware of methods that can be used to plan family and to reduce unwanted pregnancies
(Eckermann, 2010). Hence I assumed that these people never knew what a condom is
and all of them engaged in unprotected sexual activity which exposed them to a lot of
danger of contracting sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and Gonorrhea.
The other attitude I had about the Aboriginals is that they were unhygienic and they
never washed most of the food they cooked. I also believed that the Aboriginals did
not have amenities such as toilets since they mostly lived in areas around the forests. I
believed that the Aboriginals were very spiritual and religious. I imagined that these
people were heavily involved in religious activities and rituals especially on matters
of disease and sicknesses (Nay, Garratt& Fetherstonhaugh, 2013). I believed that
these group of people used believed I dying in their homesteads and not at the
hospitals receiving medical care.
My interaction with Aboriginals has brought a whole new perspective and attitude
towards these people. This has been brought about by the experiences I had while
living with these communities. The first thing I learned during the interactions that
they were very warm and welcoming. During my interactions with the people, I
learned very many new things and my attitude and perceptions towards the people

changed. I discovered that despite their traditions and beliefs, the majority of
aboriginals are very educated. Many have attained university education and are in
prestigious careers in different parts of the country. The people maintain their
important traditions and customs such as their music and their social ways of lives
irrespective of their level of education. This has influenced my decision making in
practicing nursing since they have helped me to understand the value of the traditions
and customs of the aboriginals and how much culture means to them (Hele, 2013).
This has helped me in making decisions that are consultative and involves the
community. This was a positive experience as indicated in the third stage of Gibbs
model where evaluation is needed.
The interactions also helped me to understand that the aboriginals did not depend
entirely on traditional medicine and herbs. I discovered that the people believed in
modern medicine and treatment methods and were largely dependent on the modern
methods for treating and preventing diseases. The indigenous people of Australia
depend so much on modern medicines and there are very few people who rely on
traditional healers if there are any at all. The mothers visit clinics during pregnancies
for check up and the sick can be admitted to the hospital(Anderson, 2012). However
one of the negative things in noted about these communities is that they do everything
necessary to ensure that their loved ones die in their homesteads and not in the
hospital. There are also high cases of disability among these communities. This is due
to failure to vaccinate children at an early age as advised by the doctors. The gum
diseases is also common among these people due to failure to maintain hygiene if the
mouth. They take patients home once they realize that it is difficult to save the life of
a particular patient. This has influenced me to change my decision making and helped
me to understand the need of educating the community on the significance of some

medical procedures and how to collaborate with the people to offer medical care at
home.
I also noticed that the aboriginals are not so informed on some diseases such as
cancer. Most people believe that once a person is diagnosed with cancer, it is a direct
ticket to death and hence they do not seek any medication. The other negative thing I
noticed about the community is that the people are not so much aware about the
family planning methods and do not understand the importance of planning families.
Most people engage in unprotected sexual intercourse and this has increased HIV
prevalence in this area (Dudgeon, Milroy &Walker, 2014). There is also increased
number of births in among this communities and this has brought about increased
poverty and diseases among these communities.
My experience with the aboriginals has given my tremendous experience and
understanding of evidence based practice. It has helped me change the beliefs and
attitudes I had towards the aboriginals. This experience has enabled me to understand
the health care issues facing the aboriginals and hence decision making has been
made easy. The lack of family planning knowledge is the reason why some diseases
such as diarrhea and poor nutrition are common among these communities and hence
ill have to form social groups to educate the people on the importance of planning
their families (Action, 2012). The issue of hygiene will also be addressed by
educating the people on measures they can take to enhance the level of hygiene and
hence prevent the occurrence of common diseases such as Cholera.

Conclusion
The experience has helped me to understand the different health care needs of the
people and their different responses to medication and hence has helped me to analyze
each and every medical case individually to help give the patient the right medication.
The experience with the aboriginals has also given me a chance to improve my
decision making and understand the importance of involving people when making
decisions that involves their health. The report uses the Gibbs reflection model and
the ABCD cultural assessment model to evaluate and analyze my experiences and the
changes in attitudes, beliefs, and views towards the aboriginals. My interaction with
the aboriginals has prepared me adequately for my future nursing practice among the
indigenous people of Australia since it has helped me to understand the major health
issues affecting them and how they can be solved.

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