Anne-Katrin Eckermann et al. - Binaŋ Goonj: Bridging Cultures in Aboriginal Health

Bina Goonj

Bridging Cultures in Aboriginal Health

Third edition

Anne-Katrin Eckermann

Toni Dowd

Ena Chong

Lynette Nixon

Roy Gray

Sally Johnson

Churchill Livingstone

Bina Goonj

This logo, designed by Ena Chong, depicts the gulf that exists between many cultures and the potential for safe ways to bridge understanding from one culture to another. Binang Goonj is a program which symbolises this understanding and builds on it for effective cross-cultural interaction.

Enquiries regarding support material for this program, other than the text itself, should be referred to Cross Cultural Consultants.

Ph +61 7 33761150 www.binangoonj.com.au

Copyright

Churchill Livingstone

is an imprint of Elsevier

Elsevier Australia. ACN 001 002 357

(a division of Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd) Tower 1, 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW 2067

This edition 2010 Elsevier Australia

First edition 1992.

Second edition 2006.

This publication is copyright. Except as expressly provided in the Copyright Act 1968 and the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted by any means (including electronic, mechanical, microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

Every attempt has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright, but in some cases this may not have been possible. Th e publisher apologises for any accidental infringement and would welcome any information to redress the situation.

Th is publication has been carefully reviewed and checked to ensure that the content is as accurate and current as possible at time of publication. We would recommend, however, that the reader verify any procedures, treatments, drug dosages or legal content described in this book. Neither the author, the contributors, nor the publisher assume any liability for injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any error in or omission from this publication.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Bina Goonj: Bridging Cultures in Aboriginal Health

Bibliography.

Includes index.

ISBN: 9780729539364.

1. Aboriginal Australians--Health and hygiene 2. Aboriginal Australians--Social conditions.

3. Aboriginal Australians--Medical care.

362.849915

Publisher: Melinda McEvoy

Developmental Editor: Sam McCulloch

Publishing Services Manager: Helena Klijn

Project Coordinators: Lauren Allsop and Karen Griffi ths

Edited by Brenda Hamilton

Proofread by Pam Dunne

Design by Avril Makula

Index by Mei Yen Chua

Typeset by TNQ Book Production

Printed by 1010 Printing International Ltd.

Introduction

This is the third edition of Bina Goonj and represents the culmination of the authors 19-year-long collaboration. We began our journey in 1991, when we were drawn together to design a distance education package to familiarise non-Aboriginal health workers, including doctors and nurses, with the distinctive needs and aspirations of Aboriginal people living in rural/urban Australia. The then Commonwealth Department of Community Services and Health funded the project through its Rural Health Support Education and Training (RHSET) Program. We began the process by inviting health care professionals and Aboriginal community people to participate in a survey to identify the most important issues and concerns in Aboriginal health. On the basis of this information, available literature and our own research/experiences, we produced the teaching materials. We were also encouraged to publish our material in book form in order to make it available to a wider audience.

The first edition of Bina Goonj was published in 1992, updated in 1994, and reprinted in 1995 and 1998. Another RHSET grant in 199394 provided the Team with the opportunity to develop face-to-face cross-cultural training workshops. These workshops have reached individuals and organisations throughout Australia over the past 15 years and have done much to enhance understanding of the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal peoples across Australia.

Throughout the three editions of Bina Goonj we have made reference to Aboriginal people rather than Indigenous or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This has been a deliberate decision. The Aboriginal co-authors of this text consider themselves Aboriginal people who are descendants of specific Aboriginal nations. They do not identify with the generic term Indigenous, although they recognise that it describes people across the world who have strong ties with their land, were colonised and continue to follow cultural traditions different from those of the colonisers.

Our focus on Aboriginal rather than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander situations was also deliberate. Although there was Torres Strait Islander involvement in the project's inception, time constraints precluded sustained contributions. As none of the Team could claim first-hand experience of Torres Strait situations, it was decided that, in line with the principles of self-determination and community control, it would be wrong for us to speak for the needs and aspirations of this group of Australians. The Team does, however, believe that many of the principles outlined in this project have direct relevance to the health needs of the Torres Strait Islanders, and health workers and community people from these regions have adapted materials to reflect their particular situations.

Although the core of our Team has remained intact since 1991, our dear friend Mary Martin left in 1995 to pursue her work on Aboriginal Health Worker accreditation and preparation of GPs for work in community-controlled health services. Sally Johnson joined the Team in 1995 and followed through the pilot that Toni Dowd developed with colleagues in Central Australia to devise and implement their own Aboriginal Cultural Awareness ProgramKaltye-Le-Antherrentye. Over the next decade, the Team conducted cross-cultural workshops with literally hundreds of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal health care professionals.

The second edition of Bina Goonj was published in 2006. It is a measure of the speed of change in current Aboriginal affairs that the first edition of Bina Goonj held its general currency for more than a decade, while the second edition was out of date by 2009. Clearly major, rapid policy changes, particularly from 2006 onwards, have been a response to continuing poor health, education, housing and employment statistics as well as increasing levels of violence in some communities. The cycle of disadvantage, with which many Aboriginal people have had to cope, has intensified and their life chances have been further limited.

Our Team has been active in the analysis, administration and/or delivery of health care to Aboriginal groups for a number of decades. Consequently, the materials presented here draw heavily on our experiences and perceptions, on research and government reports on Aboriginal affairs and Aboriginal health, as well as on the comments of those health care providers and community people who have shared their perceptions and concerns with us.

We began the process of material development and selection on the premise that Aboriginal people's current life chances are intrinsically linked to their past and present socio-economic, political and cultural status in Australian society. We therefore believe that it is impossible to understand Aboriginal people's health situation unless we become aware of their history since Australia's invasion in 1788, and their place in Australian society then and now. Such understanding is also essential to facilitate positive cross-cultural interaction between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. We are all products of the past, which has overtly or covertly influenced our perceptions and attitudes.