Contextualizing mental health nursing encounters in Australian remote Aboriginal communities: part 1, history and customs

[Extract] Delivering competent mental health nursing care to remote Aboriginal communities requires much more than technical competence, both in terms of diagnosis and management. It requires cultural competence in linguistic communication as well as in caring and interacting with Aboriginal clients by appreciating the cultural, historic, economic, and political factors contributing to their symptom presentation, and it requires understanding and "situatedness." Many nurses commencing work in Aboriginal communities see the client only as a person with medical issue(s) and respond from a Western bio-medical and mainstream/urban service provision model. This may lead to inappropriate care, a lack of client or community engagement, and ultimately service delivery failure. This column focuses on the history and cultural beliefs and customs of Australian Aboriginal peoples that are crucial to delivery of culturally competent mental health care. Next month's column will build on this information, providing guidelines for client encounters and mental health interviews and treatment