Delivery of mental health care relies upon professionals with the latest evidence upon which to base their care. This research reports on a pre-test/post-test evaluation of a four-week education program delivered to Pacific Island participants (n = 18) to enhance knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs). The education program used a combination of formal lectures, tutorials, clinical visits, simulations, and laboratory sessions. The measure used was the Nurse Self Report (NSR) questionnaire. Results indicate an education intervention can be an effective tool for improving the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of Pacific Island people who care for persons experiencing mental health problems.
Knowledge of the history and oppression of Australian Aboriginal people and of their culture, beliefs, and customs is essential to the delivery of culturally competent mental health services. Before an encounter with a client occurs, there is a depth of information needed to facilitate the nurse's ability to interact with clients and communities. Last month's column provided detailed information of Aboriginal people's history and customs. A synopsis of that information is given here. The Missions and Reserves, on which Aboriginal Australians lived, were set up by government and church officials and were total institutions that subjected Aboriginal individuals to a life of historical injustices and suffering. While living on Aboriginal stations, many people experienced forced confinement; medical and household inspections; the imposition of strict religious observance and discipline; separation from, and removal of, their children; the breakdown of traditional values; and the banning of their languages and cultural practices (Cawte, 1974). The resulting distrust of government and church officials carries over to mental health personnel.The isolated nature of Aboriginal communities results in differing cultural concepts of time and family/social relationships than those of Western culture. The Western concept of time is at odds with Aboriginal understandings and has led to differences with mental health staff in remote communities. Time is important from two perspectives. First, when beginning work in a community, there is an initial time investment that is needed to get to know the community and its people. Taking
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.