In: Nursing
Case Scenario Jarli, a 50-year old Indigenous client is diagnosed with liver cancer. During a teaching session with him, the nurse makes a connection between his drinking history which began in his early teens and states that “drinking is part of the culture in your community.” While in the hospital, he seems very uncommunicative, sad and, contrary to the nurse’s expectation, receives very few visitors. He travelled from his rural community to undergo chemotherapy as planned but later decided to forego the treatment and return home to be with his family. Two weeks later his wife calls and tells the nurse that he was too scared to continue the procedure, that he is a spiritual leader in the community and this was not taken into account when the nurse did her teachings with him. His wife offers to meet with the nurse to further discuss this so that future Indigenous clients will not have to go for treatment without their culture and spirituality being taken into account.
Answer to 1st question:
Indigenous people experience social, economic challenges , cultural barriers and discrimination experiences, poor communication with health care professionals.Due to these reasons , indigenous people are reluctant to access the conventional health care services.
-There are many unaware of traditional indigenous practices and perspectives of health and well being and these practices are differed from Conventional approaches to medicine in these days. The indigenous practices and perspectives of health and well being does not have value in the health care system.
- there are some physicians are reluctant to prescribe pain medications to indigenous people due to common perceptions of addiction and drug abuse.
-in this case of Jarli's , he was addicted to drinking in his teens and it stil makes a discrimination to get treatment for his liver cancer.
-Racial misconceptions can strongly influence individual's health and well-being and make them to reluctant to access health care system.
-strategies can be utilized to prevent or manage the situation:
- cultural competency and Safety training should be given to all providers in the health care system so they can provide more culturally relevant anf safe care to indigenous people.
- Health care provider training should be take on the Biases and stereotypes that can lead to the provision of poor standards of care for indigenous people. after this training, they can give equal care all patients.
-providers should be participate in cultural safety training means of reducing racist and discriminatory perceptions about indigenous people.
- Cultural awareness of indigenous people among care providers will be helpful to support their understanding of the different perspectives of health and well being of indigenous people.
- It helps for indigenous people to provide their support to health care providers and have better communication and coordination with community based services.
-Funding for transportation for indigenous people lives in rural areas would help them and their families to get ability to access the health care services within and out of community.
Answer to 2nd question:
Indigenous traditional healing is holistic practice that aims to treat imbalance in person's body , mind, emotions, spirit together and being out on land and away from community to bring calmness to body and mind by removing influences and helps to promote personal well being.
-the wide use of traditional remedies from noncodifies Pharmacopoeia used to treatment for many diseases.In this , traditional knowledge shift to pluralistic medical system which incorporates both traditional and conventional medicine promoted with the introduction od biomedicine.
-in some places, due to the impact of Colonisation treatment, traditional indigenous healing methods are at risk of being lost. indigenous people use creating space for their healing practices in Rheumatology care plans.
-They evolved emphasis on patient centered care, and they mainly focus on abrogation of inflammation and symptom management that requires long term treatment and mitigation plans.
-indigenous healing practices involve use of herbal medicines means therapeutic use of plant materials, counselling with use of relationships in healing as their support.
The methods like patient centered care , no discrimination and having relationship support to patients , therapeutic use of medicines , comfortable environment helps to Jarli's treatment.