Indigenous and Intercultural Health/Assessing learning outcomes

Module 1: Health & Australian Cultures

Topic 1. Intercultural Health Competency

Key learning outcome

Explain Intercultural Health Competency by assessing your own strengths and improvement areas

Enabling outcomes

a. Outline this subject’s main learning outcomes and assessment requirements

b. Describe what is meant by the terms ‘culture’, ‘stereotyping’ and ‘ethnocentrism’ in this subject

c. Outline key developmental stages, elements and examples of intercultural health competence

d. Self-assess your own Intercultural Health Competency by:

- Discussing and comparing your own results from the IHC survey with others

- Proposing possible reasons for areas of strength and difference to others

- Identify short and longer term strategies to address improvement areas

Topic 2. The Australian Context: Identity & Power

Key learning outcome

Explain how culture, history and demography influence health and healthcare encounters

Enabling outcomes

a. Outline key historical and demographic factors impacting on Indigenous and other cultures’ health

b. Describe Australia’s multicultural population and how intercultural adjustment can impact on health

c. Analyse examples to explain how cultural power and relationship values can affect health

d. Explain key principles of health promotion and community development, from a social determinants perspective

e. Develop a basic health promotion or community development plan

Topic 3. Culture as Communication

Key learning outcome

Develop healthcare related communication skills appropriate to a range of cultural groups and situations

Enabling outcomes

a. Describe how cultural background can affect communication styles (e.g. direct/indirect, silence, non-verbal aspects)

b. Explain how distinct communication styles reflect other cultural value dimensions

c. Evaluate case scenarios of IH communication to suggest reasons for their (in)effectiveness and potentially more effective behaviours

d. Demonstrate how to adjust your own communication style to cater for culturally different clients

Topic 4. Human Rights & Professional Responsibility

Key learning outcome

Identify how Human Rights and Professional Responsibility underpin intercultural health competence

Enabling outcomes

a. Describe key concepts of Human Rights and Professional Responsibility in the context of Australian cultures and health

b. Identify ways in which Human Rights and Professional Responsibility relate to intercultural health competence

c. Explain ways that health professionals can effect positive change through community development and health promotion

d. Analyse examples of community development and health promotion through the lenses of Human Rights and Professional Responsibility

Assignment-related Outcome:

Discuss Community Project Part 1: Background Research Review and Proposal

Module 2: Indigenous Health & Wellbeing

Topic 1. Developing Indigenous Health Competency

Key learning outcome

Self-assess own strengths and identify improvement areas for Indigenous health competency

Enabling outcomes

Focusing on Indigenous health:

a. Analyse own and others common stereotypes and ethnocentrism

b. Identify strategies for challenging own and others’ stereotypes and ethnocentrism

c. Identify similarities and differences between general intercultural health competence and Indigenous health competence

d. Develop a plan for self development in Indigenous health competency

Topic 2. History, Demography and Indigenous Health

Key learning outcome

Apply understanding of how historical and demographic factors can influence Indigenous healthcare encounters

Enabling outcomes

Focusing on Indigenous case material:

a. Describe and explain different aspects of disadvantage

b. Explain how historical factors impact on Indigenous health and healthcare (e.g. colonisation, grief, trauma, loss)

c. Analyse how past and present social power differentials affect health and healthcare

d. Identify how cultural values about relationships with community and nature affect health and wellbeing

Assignment Due: Community Project Part 1: Proposal (1,000 words)

Topic 3. Applying Indigenous Health Communication Competency

Key learning outcome

Develop and apply Indigenous healthcare related communication skills

Enabling outcomes

Focusing on Indigenous case material:

a. Describe possible culturally-based communication styles

b. Self-analyse communication style strengths and weaknesses

c. Identify potential effective and ineffective communications styles

d. Analyse self adjustments required to provide communication and care

Topic 4. Human Rights in Indigenous Health

Key learning outcome

Apply understanding of human rights in relation to professionalism and Indigenous cultural competence

Enabling outcomes

Focusing on Indigenous case material:

a. Identify issues of human rights concerns

b. Apply understanding of Australian human rights organizations

c. Apply understanding of relationship between human rights and intercultural communication

d. Apply understanding of the relationship between human rights and professionalism