Cultural Safety Position Statement - Effective Health - Essay Writing Nursing Assignment Help

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BACKGROUND / INTRODUCTION 

Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation (AHAC) is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health  Organisation (ACCHO) that provides culturally responsive and holistic primary health services to over  7,500 Aboriginal and Indigenous Australians in Tennant Creek and the surrounding Barkly region of  Northern Territory. Established in 1984 the service covers 150,000 square kilometres and remains  focussed on relieving its clients of poverty, sickness, disempowerment, social and economic  disadvantage and dysfunction to ensure equity in health status with that of other Australian citizens  (Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation (AHAC), 2019).  

Underpinned by ACCHO healthcare philosophies, AHAC addresses health disparities specific to the  Indigenous population through meaningful and dedicated community engagement (Freeman et al.,  2014). Aboriginal people make up over half of the population of Tennant Creek and up to 70 per cent  of the greater Barkly Region (AHAC, 2019). Self-determination and community control have been  recognised as best practice in Aboriginal healthcare (Braithwaite, 2019), principals embodied by  AHAC through delivery of their five programs: primary clinical care; social and emotional wellbeing;  health promotion; sports and active lifestyle; and administration services (AHAC, 2019).  

OUR POSITION 

• AHAC affirms that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the right to live a  healthy, safe and empowered life with strong connection to culture and country (Freeman et al.,  2014). 

• AHAC believes that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will access healthcare, and  achieve better health outcomes, through services that are respectful, inclusive and culturally safe (Li,  2017). 

• AHAC acknowledges that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are our nation’s first  peoples. We acknowledge our shared history and understand that this shared history continues to  impact the current health outcomes of Indigenous Australians (Van Den Berg, 2010). 

• AHAC recognises the importance of family, community, partnership and collaboration in  healthcare decision-making of Indigenous peoples, for both prevention strategies and delivery of  healthcare (Panaretto et al., 2014).  

• AHAC acknowledge that the Tennant Creek and the Barkly region have always been  culturally and linguistically diverse (AHAC, 2019).  

• Health literacy has been acknowledged as an important determinant of health (Lakhan et al.,  2017). AHAC are committed to removing health literacy barriers that impact clients, employees,  volunteers and visitors, enabling fully inclusive healthcare services. 

• AHAC supports information accessibility and direct and effective health communication to  facilitate comprehension and care planning (Lowell et al., 2012), resulting in better patient  experience and a better workplace atmosphere.  

• AHAC supports self-determination and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait  Islander communities (Braithwaite, 2019; Panaretto et al., 2014).  

• AHAC acknowledges that culturally safe care is defined by the person receiving care, and  that health workers utilise reflection to develop awareness of their own identity and how this  impacts the care they provide (Phiri et al., 2010).  

• AHAC supports training and facilitation of an Indigenous workforce (Panaretto et al., 2014).  

RATIONALE  

The importance of providing a culturally safe health environment through cultural awareness,  cultural respect, self-determination and equal access of health services have a basis in international  human rights, as stated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples  (United Nations, 2007). The AHAC cultural safety statement ensures vital guidance for improving  health outcomes and experiences to the Indigenous population of Tennant Creek and the  surrounding Barkly region, providing for a healthy, safe and empowered community (Freeman et al.,  2014). It addresses the diversity in linguistic and cultural needs of its clients, however is underpinned  by the collective Indigenous belief that health is holistic and interrelated (Marriott et al., 2019). 

Effective communication is crucial to the safe delivery of healthcare services (Lowell et al., 2012),  and the way that information is shared directly correlates with health literacy (Lambert et al., 2014),  which is defined as how people comprehend and interpret health information and apply this to their  own healthcare needs (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC),  2014). Majority of the Indigenous population of Tennant Creek and the Barkly region do not use  English as their first spoken language (AHAC, 2019) which can often restrict the extent to which they  make informed health decisions. AHAC provides high quality health staff, including Indigenous  healthcare workers to address language barriers and improve practitioner-patient communication.  

Health literacy has been determined as one of the most important factors to health communication  enabling sustainable and equitable health care (Lakhan et al., 2017; Trezona et al., 2018).  International evidence shows that Indigenous populations worldwide have greater literacy needs  than their non-Indigenous peers, and Lambert et al. (2014) suggests up to 41 per cent of Indigenous  Australian’s have very low literacy skills. This contributes to worse health outcomes and less ability  to understand and interpret health messages (ACSQHC, 2014). AHAC fosters an environment where  health professionals communicate effectively, playing a major role in assisting with the development  of clients health literacy skills and knowledge (Lambert et al., 2014), and in doing so, addressing  linguistic and cultural differences, reducing disparities and improving not only the clients’ health, but  that of the wider Indigenous community. 

Historically, low health literacy was considered a client characteristic, influenced by the persons  reading and writing ability (Lambert et al., 2014), however now also encompasses how people  interact with healthcare services (ACSQHC, 2014) . The role of the healthcare provider in providing  direct and effective communication (Lowell et al., 2012), although important, is not the only factor  influencing the health literacy of clients. Influences outside of client characteristics include health  practitioner bias and self-reflection (Phiri et al., 2010), healthcare service and system design, staff  training and retention, operational activities and the built environment (Lambert et al., 2014). From  this AHAC understand that improving health literacy does not lie with clients and practitioners alone,  but take and organisational responsibility to facilitate patient-centred care, including increased  consultation times, ongoing professional communication support and training for practitioners  (Lambert et al., 2014) and the use of culturally appropriate resources when required (Stanford et al.,  2019).  

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