Indigenous Health Active Participation of the Patient

Question: Write about theIndigenous Healthfor Active Participation of the Patient. Answer: Creating Room of the Active Participation of the Patient in the Treatment Process When I get an opportunity to serve the patient, I will aim at providing holistic care. One of the strategies I will apply to achieve this goal is to actively involve the patient in the treatment process. I will ask the patient to give contributions and actively participate in the treatment process. As a healthcare provider, I know that I have an ethical obligation of respecting the autonomy of the patient (Jongen, et al., 2014). Meaning, when serving a patient, I need to allow him to have a say in the treatment given. His autonomy should be respected by not forcing him to participate in a process that does not appeal to him. Aboriginals are people who are reluctant to seek for medical services. As indigenous people, the Aboriginals hold views which discourage them from seeking for modern medical services. Therefore, my role will be to win the patients confidence and enable him to trust my services. To do this, I will have to allow him to be active contributor in the treatment process. If I allow the patient to help me to make decisions regarding his health, I will encourage and convince him to accept my services because they suit him (Renzaho, et al., 2013). He will not reject the service because of the feeling and conviction that he is part of the process. Involving the patient in the decision making process implies that am a knowledgeable and informed practitioner who respect the autonomy of my patients irrespective of their diversities. Respect of the Patient When serving the patient, I will do my best to deliver a culturally-competent care. Since I joined the nursing profession, I have been serving patients from diverse cultural, racial, ethnic, economic, and geographical backgrounds. However, to ensure that I satisfy the needs of these patients, I do take the necessary measures to respect them (Grant, Parry Guerin, 2013). I do this because I know that all patients look forward to be served by the practitioners who treat them with respect. All patients deserve equal treatment because they are all important and should not be discriminated or looked down upon because of their backgrounds. Therefore, what I will do to this patient is to treat him with all the respect and dignity that he deserves. I am a practitioner who acknowledges that the Aboriginals are people who have traditional views that tend to discourage them from seeking for modern healthcare services. I will take it upon myself to provide the patient with culturally-responsive services. I will achieve this by carrying out a background study on the cultural views of the patient before identifying the best strategies to adopt while serving him. For instance, if I find out that the patient does not believe in certain medications, I will not compel him to use them against his wish. I will create time to engage him in a dialogue and explain to him the benefits of such drugs in his life (Parker Milroy, 2014). If I do this, I will not find it challenging to serve the patient because I will have given him a service which suits his cultural values, beliefs, and traditions. Community Participation Since I joined the healthcare profession, I have proven that it is quite challenging for the non-indigenous practitioners to effectively serve the Aboriginals. Among the barriers that prevent the non-indigenous practitioners to serve the Aboriginals is language barrier. The social status of the Aboriginals makes it difficult for them to acquire quality education. Meaning, a large number of them are not able to speak and write fluent English Language. This is the same challenge that I expect to experience when attending to the patient. He is an Aboriginal from deep inside the town neighbourhoods that is most likely inhabited by the Aboriginals. Therefore, to successfully serve this patient, I will rely on the services of the Aboriginal Liaison Officer (ALO). ALO is an expert who has a lot of knowledge the Aboriginal language and culture. The first reason why I will rely on the services of the ALO is that he will serve me as an interpreter. There might be a language limitation between us because we do not understand a similar language. As a non-indigenous expert, the only language I can use is English. Unfortunately, the patient does not understand English language. So, I will have no choice rather than using the ALO to interpret everything for me. The second reason why I will incorporate the contribution of the ALO is that he will enable me to bridge the gap between me and the patient. It will enable the patient to have a feeling that the services are delivered by his fellow Aboriginal (Brown, et al., 2015). Aboriginals are always happy when being served by one of their own. Effective and Therapeutic Communication Strategies I will apply the principles of therapeutic communication when handling the patient. Since my major goal will be to deliver a holistic and culturally-competent care to the patient, I will take the necessary measures to establish a close and healthy relationship with the patient (Russell, 2013). Therapeutic communication is one of the strategies that should always be applied by the healthcare providers who are responsible for the Aboriginals. Research has proven that many Aboriginals feel reluctant to seek for medical services because they feel that the services are not tailored to their specific needs (Mitrou, et al., 2014). Many at times, the Aboriginals have been complaining of poor service delivery which is mainly linked to poor communication especially by the non-Aboriginal practitioners. As a model practitioner, I will not do that. Instead I will use my skills to apply therapeutic communication right from the beginning up to the end of the interaction. Here, I will use my critical listening skills to appeal to the patient to talk to me and provide me with all the information that I need. At the same time, I will accept the patient the way he is and establish a very close relationship with him (Truong, Paradies Priest, 2014). This will even make to feel comfortable and forget anything that might be worrying him. Apart from this, I will use a positive language and apply polite words such as thank you, welcome, I appreciate, and many others. Finally, I will be an empathetic professional who does everything within his capacity to meet the needs of the patient. References Brown, A., et al., (2015). A strategy for translating evidence into policy and practice to close the gap-developing essential service standards for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islandercardiovascular care. Heart, Lung and Circulation, 24(2), pp.119-125. Grant, J., Parry, Y., Guerin, P. (2013). An investigation of culturally competent terminology in healthcare policy finds ambiguity and lack of definition. Australian and New Zealandjournal of public health, 37(3), 250-256. Jongen, C., et al., (2014). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander maternal and child health and wellbeing: a systematic search of programs and services in Australian primary health caresettings. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 14(1), p.1. Mitrou, F., et al., (2014). Gaps in Indigenous disadvantage not closing: a census cohort study of social determinants of health in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand from 19812006. BMC Public Health, 14(1), p.1. Parker, R. Milroy, H., (2014). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health: an overview. Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice. 2nd ed. Canberra: Department of The Prime Ministerand Cabinet, pp.25-38. Renzaho, A.M.N., et al., (2013). The effectiveness of cultural competence programs in ethnic minority patient-centered health carea systematic review of the literature. InternationalJournal for Quality in Health Care, 25(3), pp.261-269. Russell, L.M., (2013). Reports indicate that changes are needed to close the gap for Indigenous health. Med J Aust, 199(11), pp.1-2. Truong, M., Paradies, Y. Priest, N., (2014). Interventions to improve cultural competency inhealthcare: a systematic review of reviews. BMC health services research, 14(1), p.1.