Culturally aware practice - resources

For everyone

• The Department of Health and Aged Care: Aged Care Diversity Framework outlines action plans to address the needs of all diverse groups including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, senior Australians, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Intersex elders. These action plans aim to help aged care service providers address the barriers that older people from diverse backgrounds face.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

• Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) cultural responsiveness in action framework was developed to provide practical strategies to strengthen individuals and agencies in their care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The IAHA indigenous Allied Health Australia cultural responsiveness training is action orientated, strength-based, self-reflective training.
• To read about the overarching framework that is intended to guide every aspect of health service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders see the Queensland Health Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural capability framework (3.84MB pdf).
• The Australian Health ministers’ Advisory Council’s Cultural Respect Framework (2.05MB pdf) aims to support health governance, organisational management, and delivery of the Australian health system to ingrain culturally responsive services that are safe and accessible.
• Another framework that aims to close the gap in health outcomes for Aboriginal Territorians by improving cultural safety is the Northern Territory Health Aboriginal Cultural Security Framework.
• The Palliative Care Australia Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is an example of the work that is being carried out to meet the needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in accessing culturally sensitive and inclusive care. They also share their Position Statement (85kb pdf) to improving access to quality care at the end of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
• Visit the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) to understand more about how they provide guidance on policy making and budget matters while advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
• To read about the perspectives and experiences of Aboriginal country patients in South Australia, this report Managing Two Worlds Together: The experiences of patients and their carers (902kb pdf).
• If you would like to know more about customary practices and identify tools that can assist you with the sensitivities at end stages of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients read QLD Health: Sad New Sorry Business (453kb pdf).
• The national palliative care program: national indigenous palliative care needs study (751kb pdf) was published in 2003. This study aimed to provide a better understanding of the services available at that time and the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. This resource may give you insights into the historical barriers faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities in accessing palliative care services.
• This resource will provide you with high-level guidance that provides a framework for the full spectrum of cancer, from prevention and screening through to palliative care and survivorship. Visit Menzies: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer framework.
• If you would like to know more about current projects, programs and research that is underway, visit Department of Health and Aged Care: what we’re doing about palliative care.
• The key document Department of Health and Aged Care: Palliative care strategy provides a person-centred vision for palliative care in Australia. It offers guiding principles, goals and an implementation, monitoring and evaluation plan with the aim of helping people live as well as possible for as long as possible.
• To find strategies and training material to support your mainstream health service to provide culturally appropriate palliative care, visit the Department of Health and Aged Care: Providing culturally appropriate palliative care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: Resource kit.
• To explore the barriers that are faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples and see some promising approaches and recommendations for future work visit the Department of Health and Aged Care: Exploratory Analysis of Barriers to Palliative Care: Issues Report on aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
• To view the latest Australian Government Closing the GAP in Partnership report. The 2020 report has a great focus on partnership between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which sees a shared ownership, responsibility and accountability to drive progress.
• For more information, visit the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Care section of CareSearch to find a range of information and services to help the health care workforce.

Care leavers

• The Department of Health and Aged Care Video Forgotten Australians, former child migrants and stolen generations provides insight into the trauma associated.
• The Department of Health and Aged Care offer an information package, Caring for forgotten Australians, Former Child Migrants and Stolen Generations Information Package that informs aged care of the trauma associated and provides advice and support to service providers.
• The University of New South Wales carried out research titled No child should grow up like this (13MB pdf) that explored the experiences of care leavers. It provides a great insight into how these experiences shape lives and gives recommendations.
• The three reports below by the Commonwealth of Australia
• Commonwealth of Australia: Lost Innocents: Righting the Record- report on child migration
  
• Commonwealth of Australia: Forgotten Australians
  
• Commonwealth of Australia: Lost innocents and forgotten Australians Revisited.
  

Cultural and linguistically diverse people

Here is a list of resources that provide insight into the barriers to palliative care and supports for providing inclusive practice as a service provider.

• Department Of Health and Aged Care: Barriers to palliative care CALD
• Bolton Clarke: Diversity Framework (802kb pdf)
• Centre for Cultural Diversity and Ageing: Inclusive service standards.

Homelessness

• The Department of Health and Aged Care: barriers to palliative care - homelessness report describes the barriers to accessing palliative care for homeless people and offer approaches to improve the experience.
• To understand more about homelessness, its causes and the impact it can have on individuals visit, Commonwealth Australia: The road home - a national approach to reducing homelessness (722kb pdf). The insights in this white paper may raise your cultural awareness of homelessness and in turn, help you to provide a culturally safe care.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex

• To understand more about the barriers to accessing palliative care as a member of the LGBTI community see the report from The Australian Department of  Health and Aged Care: Barriers to palliative care: LGBTI.
• ELDAC: Australia’s ageing LGBTI population section explains the impact of discrimination on the health of the LGBTI community. They link to many resources and detail the relevance of inclusive practice for palliative care and advance care planning.
• The MOSIAC: LGBTI Aged Care app is a practical tool that can be downloaded by LGBTI individuals. It contains resources for LGBTI people, their partners, families of choice, aged care workers and service providers. The aim is to provide resources to make informed choices and receive safe inclusive care.

For some further resources to increase your awareness of culturally safe and competent care check out the following:

• Curtin University: Best Practice Guidelines - accommodating older gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and intersex (GLBTI) people (2.19MB pdf)
• Quality Innovation Performance: Rainbow Tick Standards
• The Equality Project: LGBTIQA+ policy guide
• Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria (GLHV): GLBTI inclusive practice: working with rural communities (862kb pdf)
• Well proud: A guide to LGBTI inclusive practice for health and human services
• LGBTI Health Alliance: cultural competency framework (818kb pdf).

Older people

• The Mosiac: LGBTI Aged Care app assists LGBTI people to plan their ageing and it helps organisations to benchmark their care in terms of safety and to build a safer more inclusive service.
• Here is a discussion tool, from the University of Tasmania, for residential and aged care facility staff for Talking about dementia and dying.
• The Department of Health and Aged Care guide for consumers on Actions to Support LGBTI Elders helps LGBTI elders to express their needs and aged care workers to understand LGBTI people.
• Queensland University of Technology: Clinical Practice Guidelines and Care Pathways for People with Dementia Living in the Community (1.08MB pdf).
• The University of Sydney: Clinical guidelines for dementia. 

Rural and remote areas

• To help allied health professionals transition into rural and remote health service Services for Australian rural and remote allied health (SARRAH) provide training and education that will help you to be more culturally aware.
• The Department of Health and Aged Care WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network: Rural Palliative Care Model in Western Australia (407kb pdf). explains the challenges face by health professionals working within palliative care in the rural and remote setting.