CULTURAL SAFETY IN MUSLIM AGED CARE

Mahjabeen Ahmad

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

Cultural safety

Muslim identity

Muslim cultural safety issues/challenges

Enablers

Shared responsibility

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CULTURAL SAFETY

Responding to individuals and their care needs within the context of their culture

Remains an evolving term

Concept originated in Aotearoa (New Zealand) in late 1980s to address Indigenous Maori people’s health inequalities

Architect of cultural safety--late Irihapeti Ramsden, Maori nurse and healthcare campaigner.

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“The first thing you do is to forget that I’m black.

Second, you must never forget that I’m black.”

---Pat Parker, For the white person who wants to know how to be my friend

MUSLIMS…...

Adopt Islam as a complete code of life

Are not a homogenous group

Share a strong religious identity

Have different levels of faith observance:

practicing, cultural, and nominal Muslims

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CULTURE AND IDENTITY OF MUSLIMS

Islamic culture

Muslim culture(s)

Dual or hyphenated identity

Acculturation.

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THE ‘OTHER’ IN OUR COMMUNITY

Islamophobia; bogeyman of many politicians and media

Highly visible signs of commitment to religious beliefs

dissimilar and distinct from the dominant/ mainstream

culture; perceived as threat to ‘our values and our way

of life’

Additional layer of ‘Otherness’.

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FROM THE INVISIBLE TO THE VISIBLE:

MUSLIM CULTURAL SAFETY Cultural risk not always rooted in past colonial history

Muslims at higher risk of experiencing discrimination and prejudice:

◦ Community vulnerability

◦ Individual exposure to cultural risks by virtue of group identity

Power not only inherent in positions---power inequities also come in the form of knowledge and skill levels

No safety in numbers for Muslims in aged care

Religion and related needs getting subsumed within a broad definition of culture

Breadth and depth of influence of faith values and observances on everyday lives of practicing Muslims and, consequently, on their care routines.

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AGEING IN THE ‘WRONG PLACE’?

Lack of social or family support structure

Lack of community capacity or resources to support the elderly

Access and powerlessness issues.

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ENGAGING WITH THE ‘OTHER’

Awareness of public discourse of non-dominant cultures and religions and its effects

Perceptions influencing willingness to work for and with those from different religious and cultural groups

Being careful of unconscious or unspoken expression or application of power differential.

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CREATING CULTURALLY SAFE ENVIRONMENT

Recognising centrality of faith: cultural expressions of Muslims are, in many instances, religious expressions

Recognition of this expression or manifestation in public spaces to be carefully negotiated in a secular environment --- ‘no public space is culturally neutral’ (Modood, T., 2013. Multiculturalism. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. , p. 1917)

An enabling or supportive environment that empowers people and gives assurance of cultural continuity

People not feeling the pressure to defend their identity or rationalize their specific or unique needs.

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SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

Interculturalism

Biculturalism

Proactive engagement

Trust and confidence

Strong community advocacy

Strengthening of mutual capacity through shared learning.

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THANK YOU!