Professionalism and Safety

Review the video on Cultural safety vs. cultural competency you watched earlier in the course to remind yourself of cultural safety.

Watch: Cultural safety vs. cultural competence (2.46 Minutes)

Cultural safety focuses on the service user. It provides space for service users to be involved in decision-making about their own care and contribute to the achievement of positive health outcomes and experiences.

In October 2019, the Medical Council of New Zealand published a statement on cultural safety. The key points are listed below.

1. Cultural safety focuses on the patient experience to define and improve the quality of care. It involves doctors reflecting on their own views and biases and how these could affect their decision-making and health outcomes for the patient.
2. The Medical Council has previously defined cultural competence as “a doctor has the attitudes, skills and knowledge needed to function effectively and respectfully when working with and treating people of different cultural backgrounds”. While it is important, cultural competence is not enough to improve health outcomes, although it may contribute to delivering culturally safe care.
3. Evidence shows that a competence-based approach alone will not deliver improvements in health equity.
4. Doctors inherently hold power in the doctor-patient relationship and should consider how this affects both the way they engage with the patient and the way the patient receives their care. This is part of culturally safe practice.
5. Cultural safety provides patients with the power to comment on practices, be involved in decision-making about their own care, and contribute to the achievement of positive health outcomes and experiences. This engages patients and whānau in their health care.
6. Developing cultural safety is expected to provide benefits for patients and communities across multiple cultural dimensions, which may include Indigenous status, age or generation, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, religious or spiritual belief and disability. In Aotearoa New Zealand, cultural safety is of particular importance in the attainment of equitable health outcomes for Māori.

^{(Ref: Medical Council of New Zealand, Cultural Safety, 2019 Cultural safety & cultural competence for healthcare providers | Healthify)}

Bias

Bias is having a prejudiced view (either positively or negatively) about other people, often based on specific characteristics such as age, gender or race. Unconscious biases are ones that we are generally unaware of. However, it is possible to develop an understanding of our own unconscious biases if we are willing to question ourselves. Understanding your biases is an important part of cultural safety.

Watch the following two videos and complete the exercise that follows.

Watch: Understanding and addressing implicit bias (13.55 Minutes)

Watch: Te Tiriti o Waitangi, colonisation and racism (12.31 Minutes)

Culturally responsive interactions refer to engaging and communicating with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds in a manner that acknowledges, respects, and values their cultural perspectives and experiences. Culturally responsive interactions aim to create an inclusive environment where people from different cultures feel heard, understood, and valued.

These interactions require individuals to be aware of their own cultural biases, stereotypes, and assumptions and to actively challenge and overcome them.

Culturally responsive interactions can include the following (click on the headings):

By engaging and practising culturally responsive interactions, we as individuals and workers can foster inclusivity, build positive relationships, and promote mutual understanding and respect across different cultures.

Professionalism and tikanga

You learnt about professionalism earlier in the course. Characteristics of a professional include being trustworthy, competent at your job, respectful, considerate of others and acting with integrity. Being professional from a Māori cultural perspective means acknowledging and applying Māori values, for example:

• Whānaungatanga – is about relationships, kinship and a sense of family connection. It is created through shared experiences and working together and gives people a sense of belonging.
• Manaakitanga – Supporting tangata in a way that recognises their mana to support greater well-being.
• Kaitiakitanga – The value of recognising, nurturing and protecting that which is important in order to engage in trusting relationships to support greater well-being.
• Kotahitanga – The value of working collaboratively to support greater well-being.

Professionalism and cultural safety also encompass following the Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles of partnership, protection and participation.

Watch: Wellington Pipelines Case Study (3.20 Minutes)

Watch the following video, which discusses using tikanga in a business setting. Complete the task that follows.

Activity

Consolidation activity

Throughout this course, you have accessed many resources that provide information on tikanga practice. You may also have discovered other resources on the internet or in the workplace. List three reliable resources you have access to that you help to ensure you are correctly following tikanga Māori practices.