Page 1391 - Week 04 - Thursday, 12 April 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
translation be readily available to clients from linguistically diverse backgrounds. Unfortunately, the existence of interpreter services is often unknown to CALD communities, or severely under-resourced.
Appropriate translation is important because concepts associated with mental health often do not exist in certain languages and cultural backgrounds. For example, psychiatric nurse Sione Vaka has noted that there is no direct translation in some Pacific languages for the word “depression”. As Fatima Mohamed of the Somali Welfare and Cultural Association has pointed out, the term “mental health” does not even occur in Somali. She said, “In Somalia, you’re either crazy or you’re okay.” She added, “Even if they’re sick, they won’t tell you what’s wrong; they keep it in until it’s really bad.”
That last statement helps to illustrate another obstacle. Whilst stigmas surrounding mental illness are common across society, these stigmas are often more pronounced in CALD communities and they need to be specifically targeted in order to help those from multicultural backgrounds understand that it is okay to seek help when they need it. At the same time it is also essential that the help provided is culturally competent, and this goes far beyond just a token access to interpreters. It must incorporate an overarching awareness and recognition of Australia’s cultural and linguistic diversity. Depression, for instance, often presents in different ways in different cultures.
One recommendation is for mental health practitioners to amplify “cultural concordance” between themselves and their CALD patients. For example, psychiatrist Siale Foliaki has referred to his ability as a practitioner with a multicultural background to practise, in his own words, “from a place of intimacy”, where he can be “enmeshed in a client’s world”. For this reason it is important to see increased recruitment and employment of bicultural and bilingual workers to help overcome language and cultural barriers in accessing mental health services.
A perfect match in a truly diverse community is not always an option. Another productive way forward is when mental health practitioners are able to leverage their own ethnicity, religion, experience practising overseas, speaking languages other than English and/or existing cultural knowledge and experience to effectively communicate with their patients. This means that many professionals who come from a non-dominant culture or have picked up experience where they were part of a non-dominant culture often find it easier to relate to patients from a variety of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds even when those backgrounds differ.
As one doctor reported, “Having lived myself in another situation where you don’t understand the language, you don’t understand the culture and everything, I guess it makes me a bit more patient and also makes me try and understand where they are coming from so that I can better communicate with them.”
For this reason, policy in New South Wales states that “diversity in the local population needs to be reflected in the skill base and composition of the mental health workforce”. That is why Mr Vaka, the psychiatric nurse mentioned earlier, actively works to recruit people from CALD backgrounds into nursing.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video