Culture refers to the knowledge, belief, art, morals, customs and any other capabilities acquired by man as a member of society. Therefore culture clash results when people have different values and beliefs and are not tolerant of each other’s differences (Eckermann, Dowd, Chong, Nixon, Gray and Johnson, 2006.). Due to misunderstandings and differences, the superior group usually tries to violently enforce its values and beliefs to the inferior group and it results in culture conflict. In addition, when an individual or a group becomes foreign, there is a sudden need to adapt to the indigenous behaviours and this causes stress as well as culture shock.
An example of cultural clash is that unlike some people, Indigineous Aboriginals treat men’s illness as a private matter, therefore ill men delay seek of treatment and will sometimes prolong cure causing the disease’s condition to worsen (Eckermann et al, 2006.).This applies to Jacob who eventually visited a doctor after prolonged abdominal pains and told the doctor that he had been embarrassed to seek help or medical treatment since it was “men business”. Again, Jacob asked for male nurse assistance since he was uncomfortable with a female paramedic who kept looking at his abdomen, smiled at him and called him “love” which seemed unacceptable him.
Indigenous Dispossession
Germov, (2009) states that although Australian Aboriginal people had different cultures and languages long ago, they had similar social and emotional commitment and value of their land. They were nomads who lived on hunting and gathering and also migrated seasonally. They were also governed by rules of the land which they obeyed. When the Europeans colonised the Aborigions in about 1788, they totally enforced...
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...ways should be implemented such as patient and family communication to avoid separation anxiety .Secondly, Encouragement of health care practitioners’ surveys to improve services through patient’s feedback. Thirdly, increase of health indicators such as control of weight gain to reduce obesity, diabetes or hypertension. Fourthly, increased personal health education such as effects of alcohol and drug abuse to reduce cancer or drug related diseases. Fifth, encouragement of regular health checks, prescription collection, immunisation, use of community based services such as exercises and social services. Lastly, regular visits by specialists to remote communities to increase trust and understanding between the specialists and the patients since indigenous people are more confident when interacting in their own context and language (Nguyen, 2008).
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Furthermore, over the last 20 years, a number of studies have demonstrated the importance of culture to the health and health care of Aboriginal people. The limited understanding of Aboriginal cultures by some biomedical health care professionals can result in health conditions going unrecognized, or errors occurring in diagnosis and treatment. A study based on a comparative analysis of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal hospital psychiatric admissions in North western Ontario suggested that some Aboriginal people admitted for
Firstly, gender disparity plays a significant role in aboriginal health, especially in the administration of health care. In Aboriginal culture, there are certain health practices that can only be done by either men or women, but not all (Bonvillain, 2001). In most cases, women are treated by their female counterparts whereas male doctors handle male patients. This means that a male doctor cannot undertake a vaginal inspection and a female nurse cannot teach an aboriginal man about self-catheterization. As a result, a breach of this traditional gender division, for instance a male doctor helping a woman in emergencies, is likely to cause shame, distress, depression, and fear of breaking a particular taboo (Freud, 2000).
The nature of traditional medicine and its intimate relationship with Aboriginal culture explains the inadequacy of Western medicine as the primary model of health care for the Aboriginal community. I believe the preservation of the Aboriginal culture is the only true cure for the Aboriginal people. Society today must work on developing an understanding towards each other, and realize that the Aboriginal people are not rebelling against the “White man” or his ways, rather Aboriginal’s are trying to help their people by going back to what has worked for their ancestors for centuries; and what they feel comfort in.
In this essay the writer will discuss the colonisation of Australia, and the effects that dispossession had on indigenous communities. It will define health, comparing the difference between indigenous and non- indigenous health. It will point out the benefits and criticism of the Biomedical and sociological models of health, and state why it is important in healthcare to be culturally competent with Transcultural theory. The case study of Rodney will be analyzed to distinguish which models of health were applied to Rodney’s care, and if transcultural theory was present when health care workers were dealing with Rodney’s treatment plan.
Australian Aborigines have had a traditional relationship with their land since they first came to the Australian continent somewhere from 40,000 to 60,000 years ago to 120,000 years ago (9:9). Before Europeans came and settled the same land, the Aborigines had their own law system, trading systems, and way of caring for their land (12:1-2). Then the First Fleet of Europeans landed at Botany Bay in New South Wales in 1788. The expedition lead by the new Governor Phillip, but directed by King George the Third, was told to endeavor by every possible means to open intercourse with the natives, and to conciliate their affections, enjoining all our subjects to live in amity and kindness with them. And if any of our subjects shall wantonly destroy them or give them any unnecessary interruption in the exercise of their several occupations, it is our will and pleasure that you do cause such offenders to be brought to punishment according to the degree of the offense (9:2-3).
In the late eighteenth century prior to the arrival of the first European settlers, Australia was once believed to be a terra nullius, an uninhabited “nothing land.” The European colonizers of Australia sought to make something of this land they believed they had discovered. Operating under this false notion, colonizers systematically invaded and conquered Australia, imposing their own ways onto the land and its original custodians, the Aboriginal people. The introduction of western settlements disrupted much of Aboriginal life. In a publication titled, Is it in the Blood? Australian Aboriginal Identity, author Myrna Ewart Tonkinson discusses Western imperialism and its implications on Aboriginal identity.
The first Europeans to settle Australia treated the Aboriginals in a brutal, unfair manor. They downgraded Aboriginals to a lower status as human beings. They tried to force the Aboriginals to conform to the western way of life for more than 200 years. It is only fairly recently that the Aboriginals have finally been able to gain back some of their indigenous rights and traditions.
“It might help if we non-Aboriginal Australians imagined ourselves dispossessed of the land we lived on for 50,000 years, and then imagined ourselves told that it had never been ours. Imagine if ours was the oldest culture in the world and we were told that it was worthless.” (Keating, 1993)
As our communities become progressively diverse, healthcare and healthcare professionals are faced with many new challenges. Language barrier alone is one major area where which can lead to misunderstandings, miscommunication and as a result, affect patient care in a negative way. Other challenges to the healthcare providers are the cultural differences influencing how people view health vs. illness. Often what some people might view to be health others might perceive very differently. Issues of perceptions can play a role in whether a person will or decides against seeking help. Certain diseases depending on a culture might have stigmas attached to them, such as AIDS, HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, or a mental illness to name a few. Patients may not want to discuss such conditions with their
Indigenous health is a vital tool in health care today. The case study is about an indigenous lady who is from a remote community. This case study will define culture shock, transcultural theory. Finally it will states the recommendations that can be acquired to improve the current indigenous health care issue as it can be noted that the indigenous health tends has been deteoriating.
Differences among among culture has sparked conflict for centuries because humans fear change. They fear difference. They fear it because nothing is scarier than being told your life is a lie. Years ago people conquered other people through force. Now, with lots of leaders against war, culture is one of the strongest ways to unify and achieve a sense of
Australia’s Indigenous people are thought to have reached the continent between 60 000 and 80 000 years ago. Over the thousands of years since then, a complex customary legal system have developed, strongly linked to the notion of kinship and based on oral tradition. The indigenous people were not seen as have a political culture or system for law. They were denied the access to basic human right e.g., the right to land ownership. Their cultural values of indigenous people became lost. They lost their traditional lifestyle and became disconnected socially. This means that they were unable to pass down their heritage and also were disconnected from the new occupants of the land.
Throughout the years, humans have shaped the world and many societies have developed different cultural patterns. Culture is the way of life of a society. Through culture, we learn how to collaborate with groups of people and we learn how to survive and adapt to changes. It is composed of values and beliefs that are shared by other members of society, as well as species survival. Every culture has different cultural elements that are vital to one’s survival in a certain place.
Contextually, Aboriginals have been failed by their government through flawed policy and health program mismanagement (Jull & Giles, 2012). There are often discrepancies in health program policy and coverage depending on the “status” of the individual and differing responses of provinces and territories to the policies; resulting in many Aboriginals not being covered for a variety of medical treatments that other populations would be covered for (Jull & Giles, 2012). To illustrate, Jordan River Anderson, a young Aboriginal boy who had been hospitalized for two years, had been waiting to return to return home, while the provincial and federal government disputed who would cover the cost of homecare (Jull & Giles, 2012). Unfortunately, the slow response of the governments resulted in Jordan passing away before he could return home (Jull & Giles, 2012). The location of many reserves where the majority of populations live can also become a factor when it comes to accessing health care. This is a result of many reserves being located long distances from more advanced health care facilities in urbanized areas (Snyder & Wilson, 2012). Not only is the commute hard financially and mentally for the remote Aboriginal population, but the actual facilities themselves pose many barriers to their
Culture refers to the collection of values, customs, and attitudes of a group of people belonging to certain area, country or a place. It shapes individuals’ habits, knowledge, experiences, and their perspectives. It is important to avoid ethnocentricity since it creates a bias in which, one views their own culture to be superior over other cultures. In the age of globalization, such single-minded bias can prove to be costly as it can lead to undermining positive characteristics of other cultures. This in return can create negative relationship with citizens from other cultures as well as their governments.