All Together Now: The central importance of

developing cultural competency

Dr Ursula King

Graduate School of Medicine,

University of Wollongong, NSW

What we did…

Compulsory half day workshop (for academic and general staff within the GSM) addressing:

• Safe and supported reflection on issues of culture and identity

• Historical context for indigenous health in Australia

• Key contemporary issues in indigenous health

• Key GSM curriculum integration opportunities for indigenous health content

Why…

• Importance of recognising the attitudinal climate in which indigenous issues are perceived in order to achieve meaningful change

– Intellectual recognition of the issues juxtaposed against emotional response

– Shared responsibility

– Everyone on same page (‘facts’)

Because…

Reject

Accept

Tolerate

Respect

How…

Acknowledging Western biomedicine has its own culture and this influences its ‘world view’

– mechanistic, Cartesian view i.e. body as machine (Descartes, Enlightenment)

– ‘universal’ body i.e. all bodies are essentially the same

– ‘objective’ lens of the scientific method i.e. value free, beyond cultural critique, unbiased

This has implications for engaging and working meaningfully with the diversity within the community, where ’world views’ re health/illness vary widely

Indigenous diversity…

What we learnt…• Big guns

– need ongoing and embedded executive level understanding and commitment plus dedicated funding

• Be realistic re your starting point– commit to working with attitudinal change over the long term, and

lead by example - must start by working from where people are

• Don’t fly solo– importance of forging strong partnerships with indigenous

individuals and organisations internal and external to the university

• Marathon not a sprint– challenge of building an integrated presence in the school and

across the curriculum over time