Australian Historical Context: Health and Wellbeing of Indigenous Australians
The Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal are believed to be the natives of Australia. Historians and archeologists have indicated that such indigenous people have lived in this country for over 65 thousand years (Fisher et al., 2019). These people engage in a wide range of health promotion practices that are traditional in nature. Most of the implemented initiatives and policies have failed to address the plight of these members of the society. The ineffective care delivery systems and programs put in place do not address the demands of these individuals (Fisher et al., 2019). Promoters of modern medical services disregard the traditions of such underserved citizens. Consequently, such initiatives are incapable of meeting the medical needs of these members of the population.
The established health services have focused primarily on modern clinical guidelines. The systems do not have ways of addressing the demands of the less fortunate members of the society. Some of the regions whereby these aboriginals live lack such facilities. The government has been reluctant to provide additional support systems and hospitals to meet the needs of such citizens (Fisher et al., 2019). This failure also describes why the health services fail to offer personalized and culturally competent care to these underserved members of the population. The current health policies and models also ignore the dietary and wellbeing needs of such citizens.
Health Promotion Program
The current gap in the wellbeing and welfare of Indigenous Australians does not mean that nothing is being done to transform the situation. One of the current health promotion programs intended to support the provision of personalized services to members of this population is the Indigenous Australian’s Health Program. This initiative relies on government funding to provide primary medical care, maternal health, and support to individuals suffering from chronic conditions (Conte et al., 2020). This program is part of the wider approach supposed to transform and improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals. The involvement of different stakeholders and physicians ensures that timely results are recorded.
The relevant caregivers, community organizers, and professionals rely on respectful partnership to transform the experiences of the beneficiaries. The program is designed in such a way that people who are aware of the health needs of Aboriginals are part of the process. The service providers focus on key areas of weakness and identify evidence-based approaches that can ensure that members of this population have access to sustainable medical services (Fisher et al., 2019). The involvement of key partners and stakeholders is essential to improve the life expectancy and health of the targeted individuals. The initiative is expected to bridge the gap and allow more Aboriginals to lead better lives.
Partnership Principles and Culturally Safe Practices
Aboriginal medical service delivery is a process intended to meet the health demands of native Australians. An occupational therapist working with members of this culture will need to consider the importance of cultural competence. He or she will have to examine how they communicate with one another, major sources of stress, and the best ways to manage anger. The therapist will identify the best ways to provide personalized services. The person can focus on desirable approaches to engage family members and other stakeholders (Conte et al., 2020). The process needs to be personalized and in accordance with the established cultural attributes.
When working with an aboriginal health worker, such an occupational therapist will analyze the colleagues’ cultural attributes and demands. The professional will need to remain respectful, promote mutual understanding, and support one another. The use of appropriate sign languages and verbal attributes that members of the aboriginal group promote will result in a beneficial collaboration (Wettasinghe et al., 2020). Within an Aboriginal Medical Service, the occupational therapist will identify procedures that are holistic, culturally competent, and capable of empowering the beneficiaries to fulfill their daily activities and goals. The introduction of traditional approaches to therapy can also support the expert to operate effectively in the Aboriginal Medical Service and when working with both patients and colleagues from Aboriginal populations.
Personal Reflection
The role of an occupational therapist is to support the targeted client is to apply scientific knowledge to improve his or her performance. The materials and concepts studied in class are timely and capable of guiding more people to achieve their aims. The first area that forms the basis of my professional philosophy is that of cultural competence. The model has outlined the importance of being engaged, solving existing challenges, and including family members (Hendrickx et al., 2020). I have appreciated the importance of taking my clients’ spiritual needs and feelings into consideration. The people’s beliefs, ideologies, and practices should dictate the best practices that can support the delivery of desirable therapy.
The second area that forms an integral part of the module is that of professional development. As an occupational therapist, I have understood how to remain honest, promote desirable relationships, and maintain the highest level of integrity. Ethics emerges as an effective approach that will allow me to solve emerging dilemmas and focus on the best approaches to transform my clients’ experiences (Azzopardi et al., 2018). I will engage in continuous learning to acquire additional ideas and expand my philosophy as an occupational therapist. These achievements will take me closer to my goals and eventually become successful. The application of the acquired ideas and concepts will make it easier for me to achieve my aims while improving the experiences and outcomes of my respective clients.
Personal Cultural Competence Goal
Workplace learning experiences provide additional opportunities for developing specific competencies that can take someone closer to his or her professional aims. Personally, I will implement a personal level goal whereby I will identify some of the best approaches that can maximize my engagement with individuals with diverse backgrounds. I will create new friendships with persons from different racial groups. This initiative will guide me to learn new ideas, solve most of the recorded problems, and consider how I can communicate and learn new things from them (Waterworth et al., 2015). This process will equip me with better problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making capabilities when dealing with different groups of people. Such gains will transform my cultural competencies and support my aims.
The intended goal will entail the formation of new groups or teams comprised of individuals from different cultural groups. Such workmates will be instrumental in providing additional competencies that can guide me when providing the required therapy to patients with diverse backgrounds. I will make the acquired insights part of my care delivery and professional philosophy. I will also ensure that the concept of continuous learning from various workplace experiences will become part of me. These initiatives will expand my cultural competencies and allow me to provide the relevant occupational therapy to my clients (Butler et al., 2019). This achievement means that more individuals with diverse backgrounds will eventually achieve personalized support or therapy.
References
Azzopardi, P. S., Swayer, S. M., Carlin, J. B., Degenhardt, L., Brown, N., Brown, A. D., & Patton, G. C. (2018). Health and wellbeing of Indigenous adolescents in Australia: a systematic synthesis of population data. The Lancet, 391(10122), 766-782.
Butler, T. L., Anderson, K., Garvey, G., Cunningham, J., Ratcliffe, J., Tong, A., Whop, L. J., Cass, A., Dickson, M., & Howard, K. (2019). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s domains of wellbeing: A comprehensive literature review. Social Science & Medicine, 233, 138-157.
Conte, K. C., Gwynn, J., Turner, N., Koller, C., & Gillham, K. E. (2020). Making space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community health workers in health promotion. Health Promotion International, 35(3), 562-574.
Fisher, M., Battams, S., McDermott, D., & Baum, F. (2019). How the social determinants of Indigenous Health became policy reality for Australia’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health plan. Journal of Social Policy, 48(1), 169-189.
Hendrickx, D., Amgarth-Duff, I., Bowen, A. C., Carapetis, J. R., Chibawe, R., Samson, M., & Walker, R. (2020). Barriers and enablers of health service utilisation for childhood skin infections in remote Aboriginal Communities of Western Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(3), 808-824.
Waterworth, P., Pescud, M., Braham, R., Dimmock, J., & Rosenberg, M. (2015). Factors influencing the health behaviour of Indigenous Australians: Perspectives from support people. PLoS ONE, 10(11), e0142323.
Wettasinghe, P. M., Allan, W., Garvey, G., Timbery, A., Hoskins, S., Veinovic, M., Daylight, G., Mack, H. A., Minogue, C., Donovan, T., Broe, G. A., Radford, K., & Delbaere, K. (2020). Older Aboriginal Australians’ health concerns and preferences for healthy ageing programs. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(20), 7390-7406.