In my professional work on a day-to-day basis, I work with a team that is building learning modules focusses on ‘cultural safety in healthcare’. In 2015, all the health authorities in BC (including the newly formed First Nations Health Authority- FNHA) and the Ministry of Health signed the Declaration of Commitment to Cultural Safety and Cultural Humility in BC Healthcare services.
Designing learning opportunities and outcomes has been an interesting process. For example, here are two and associated activities.
- Learners will develop an understanding of the their own views of the term “culture”.
- Learners will be able to define the term ‘cultural safety’.
The first activity we engage in is having students write down on a sticky note, or in an electronic environment on a platform, what their definition of ‘culture’ includes. We then read through them.
The next part of the activity includes an introduction to the ‘cultural iceberg‘. The final part of the exercise is organizing posts onto the cultural iceberg and seeing what is missing, and where the majority of posts were located on the iceberg.
The exercise for cultural safety then includes sharing an appreciation for how diverse and wide ‘culture’ is as a term and how can practitioners ensure their practices are cultural safe and respectful.
This is highlighted through the two basic principles of cultural safety: (1) its basis lies in critical self-reflection of practitioners, and (2) cultural safety is determined by clients/patients in healthcare, not the practitioners.
This is then discussed through the principles of dialogue circles, such as those highlighted by critical educator Dr. Stephen Brookfield.