A postcolonial analysis of Indigenous cultural awareness training for health workers.
Affiliation(s)
(Downing) Melbourne School of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
(Kowal) Discipline of Anthropology, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
(Kowal) Discipline of Anthropology, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Year
2011
Citation
Health Sociology Review. Vol.20(1), 2011, pp. 5-15.
Journal
Health Sociology Review.
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Abstract
Indigenous cultural training for health workers is an increasingly popular intervention designed to improve the health services provided to Indigenous peoples in Australia. The provision of this training is based on the recognition that the measured discrepancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health outcomes is in part influenced by cultural difference and a history of racism in Australian society. Indigenous cultural training in Australia predominantly draws on a 'cultural awareness' framework which seeks to educate health workers about 'Indigenous culture'. To date, evaluations of Indigenous cultural training programs have found them to have questionable efficacy, although most of these evaluations have been methodologically inadequate. This article draws on postcolonial theory to explore the limitations of Indigenous cultural training as it is commonly conceptualised. Issues of essentialising 'Indigenous culture', 'otherness' and the absence of systemic responsibility for culturally appropriate health service provision are discussed. Finally, we consider future directions for Indigenous cultural training that are useful to both Indigenous service users and the health workers charged with 'closing the gap' between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
PubMed ID
Type
Article
Study type
Subjects
Cultural safety
Healthcare workforce
Healthcare workforce