Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T13:03:51.350Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘Working Together’: An Intercultural Academic Leadership Programme to Build Health Science Educators’ Capacity to Teach Indigenous Health and Culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2016

Angela Durey ,
Kate Taylor ,
Dawn Bessarab ,
Marion Kickett ,
Sue Jones ,
Julie Hoffman ,
Helen Flavell  and
Kim Scott
Angela Durey*
Affiliation:
School of Dentistry, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, 6845, Australia
Kate Taylor
Affiliation:
Curtin Teaching and Learning, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, 6845, Australia
Dawn Bessarab
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, 6845, Australia Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health, School of Primary Aboriginal and Rural Health Care, University of Western Australia, Perth, 6009, Western Australia, Australia
Marion Kickett
Affiliation:
Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, 6845, Australia
Sue Jones
Affiliation:
Curtin Teaching and Learning, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, 6845, Australia
Julie Hoffman
Affiliation:
Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, 6845, Australia
Helen Flavell
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, 6845, Australia
Kim Scott
Affiliation:
Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, 6845, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Dr Angela Durey, Research Associate Professor, School of Dentistry M512, University of Western Australia, 17 Monash Ave, Nedlands, WA, 6009, Australia. Email: [email protected].
Get access

Abstract

Progress has been slow in improving health disparities between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians and other Australians. While reasons for this are complex, delivering healthcare respectful of cultural differences is one approach to improving Indigenous health outcomes. This paper presents and evaluates an intercultural academic leadership programme developed to support tertiary educators teaching Indigenous health and culture prepare interdisciplinary students to work respectfully and appropriately as health professionals with Indigenous peoples. The programme acknowledges the impact of colonisation on Indigenous Australians and draws on theories of the intercultural space to inform reflection and discussion on Indigenous/non-Indigenous relations and their impact on healthcare. Furthermore, the programme encourages establishing a community of practice as a resource for educators. Evaluation indicated participants’ confidence to teach Indigenous content increased following the programme. Participants felt more able to create intercultural, interdisciplinary and interactive learning spaces that were inclusive and safe for students from all cultures. Participants learned skills to effectively facilitate and encourage students to grapple with the complexity of the intercultural space, often tense, uncertain and risky, to enable new understandings and positions to emerge that could better prepare graduates to work in Indigenous health contexts.

Keywords

Aboriginal peoplehigher educationhealthcarereflection
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , August 2017 , pp. 12 - 22
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AHMAC. (2004). Cultural respect framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Adelaide: Department of Health, South Australia.Google Scholar
Bhaba, H. ([1994]2012). The location of culture. Oxford: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Burgess, D., van Ryn, M., Dovidio, J., & Saha, S. (2007). Reducing racial bias among health care providers: Lessons from social-cognitive psychology. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22 (6), 882–887.Google Scholar
Condon, J.R., Garvey, G., Whop, L., Valery, P., Thomas, D., Gruen, R., & Cunningham, J. (2013). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and cancer. Cancer Forum, 37 (1), 27–30.Google Scholar
Curtin University. (2008). Reconciliation action plan 2008–2013. A vision and a process. Perth, Western Australia: Curtin University.Google Scholar
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. (2016). Closing the gap Prime Minister's report 2016. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
DOHA. (2012). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health performance framework 2012 report. Canberra: Department of Health and Ageing, Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Dudgeon, P., & Fielder, J. (2006). Third spaces within tertiary places: Indigenous Australian studies. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 16, 396–409.Google Scholar
Dudgeon, P., Wright, M., & Coffin, J. (2010). Talking it, walking it: Cultural competence. Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues, 13 (3), 29–44.Google Scholar
Durey, A., Wynaden, D.G., Thompson, S.C., Davidson, P., Bessarab, D., & Katzenellenbogen, J.M. (2012). ‘Owning solutions’: A collaborative model to improve quality in hospital care for Aboriginal Australians. Nursing Inquiry, 19, 144–152.Google Scholar
Durey, A., & Thompson, S.C. (2012). Reducing the health disparities of Indigenous Australians: Time to change focus. BMC Health Services Research, 12, 151. Doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-151.Google Scholar
Emirbayer, M., & Desmond, M. (2012). Race and reflexivity. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35 (4), 574–599.Google Scholar
Frankenberg, R. (1993). The social construction of whiteness. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Frawley, J., Fasoli, L., D'Arbon, T., & Ober, R. (2010). The linking worlds research project: Identifying intercultural educational leadership capabilities. Leading and Managing, 16 (1), 1–15.Google Scholar
Henricks, A., Britton, K.F., Hoffman, J., & Kickett, M. (2014). Developing future health professionals’ capacities for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 43 (2), 154–164.Google Scholar
Henry, B., Houston, S., & Mooney, G. (2004). Institutional racism in Australian healthcare: A plea for decency. Medical Journal of Australia, 180 (10), 517–520.Google Scholar
Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council. (2011). National Indigenous higher education workforce strategy. Canberra: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.Google Scholar
Johnstone, M.-J., & Kanitsaki, O. (2009). The spectrum of ‘new racism’ and discrimination in hospital contexts. Collegian, 16 (2), 63–69.Google Scholar
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10 (2), 144–156 Google Scholar
Katzenellenbogen, J., Sanfilippo, F., Hobbs, M., Briffa, T., Ridout, S., Knuiman, M., . . . Thompson, S. (2010). Incidence of and case fatality following acute myocardial infarction in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Western Australians (2000–2004): A linked data study. Heart, Lung and Circulation, 19, 717–725.Google Scholar
Katzenellenbogen, J., Sanfilippo, F., Hobbs, M., Briffa, T., Ridout, S., Knuiman, M., . . . Thompson, S.C. (2012). Aboriginal to non-Aboriginal differentials in 2-year outcomes following non-fatal first-ever acute MI persist after adjustment for comorbidity. European Journal of Preventative Cardiology, 19, 983. DOI: 910.1177/1741826711417925.Google Scholar
Kickett, M., Hoffman, J., & Flavell, H. (2014). A model for large scale, interprofessional, compulsory cross-cultural education with an Indigenous focus. Journal of Allied Health, 43 (1), 38–44.Google Scholar
Kowal, E., Franklin, H., & Paradies, Y. (2013). Reflexive antiracism: A novel approach to diversity training. Ethnicities, 13 (3), 316–337.Google Scholar
Maple-Brown, L.J. (2011). The combined burden of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in Indigenous Australians. Current Cardiovascular Risk Reports, 5 (3), 215–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDermott, D. (2012). Can we educate out of racism? Medical Journal of Australia, 197 (1), 15.Google Scholar
McIntosh, P. (1990). White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. Independent School, Winter, 31–36.Google Scholar
Moreton Robinson, A. (2009). Talkin’ up to the white woman. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.Google Scholar
Nakata, M. (2007). The cultural interface. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36 (Suppl.), 7–18.Google Scholar
Nakata, M., Nakata, V., Keech, S., & Bolt, R. (2012). Decolonial goals and pedagogies for Indigenous studies. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1 (1), 120–140.Google Scholar
Pease, B. (2010). Undoing privilege: Unearned advantage in a divided world. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Pitner, R., & Sakamoto, I. (2005). The role of critical consciousness in multicultural practice: Examining how its strength becomes its limitation. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 75 (4), 684–694.Google Scholar
Rigney, L.-I. (1999). Internationalization of an Indigenous anticolonial cultural critique of research methodologies: A guide to Indigenist research methodology and its principles. Wicazo Sa Review, (Emergent Ideas in Native American Studies), 14 (2), 109–121.Google Scholar
Rutherford, J. (1990). The third space. Interview with Homi Bhabha. In Ders, H. (Ed.), Identity: Community, culture, difference (pp. 207–221). London: Lawrence and Wishart.Google Scholar
Scott, K., Bessarab, D., Durey, A., Taylor, K., Hoffman, J., Kickett, M., . . . Austen, L. (2013). Working together: Intercultural academic leadership LE 11–2082 Final Report. Sydney: Office for Learning and Teaching, Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education.Google Scholar
Spector, P.E. (1994) Using self-report questionnaires in OB research: A comment on the use of a controversial method. Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 15 (5), 385–392.Google Scholar
Taylor, K., Thompson, S., Smith, J., Dimer, L., Ali, M., & Wood, M. (2009). Exploring the impact of an Aboriginal health worker on hospitalised Aboriginal experiences: lessons from cardiology. Australian Health Review, 33 (4), 549–557.Google Scholar
van Ryn, M. (2002). Research on the provider contribution to race/ethnicity disparities in medical care. Medical Care, 40 (Suppl. 1), 1140–1151.Google Scholar
Walker, R., & Sonn, C. (2010). Working as a culturally competent mental health practitioner. In Purdie, N., Dudgeon, P. & Walker, R. (Eds.), Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing: Principles and practice (pp. 157–180). Canberra: Ausrtalian Council of Educational Research.Google Scholar
Wane, N.N. (2008). Mapping the field of Indigenous knowledges in anti-colonial discourse: A transformative journey in education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 11 (2), 183–197.Google Scholar