Reference no: EM133578913

Cultural Competency

Mrs. Kahu is a 78-year old Maori kui who has recently being admitted to a residential care unit in Auckland after she suffered a stroke. Mrs. Kahu has lived all her adult life in Auckland she has four adult children and many mokopuna who are all living overseas. Her husband passed away almost 2 years ago, her youngest son is living and caring for her. She comes from the North her iwi is Ngapuhi and she has been bought up speaking Te Reo but she can speak and understand a little English

Mrs. Kahu is not happy being in the residential care unit as she does not know how to communicate to the staff about her mental and physical wellbeing, she is very whakama about this and tells her son in Te Reo Maori to arrange for the kaumatua to come and visit her for karakia as she believes she is dying and she does not want to be alone. Her wairua is low and her hinengaro is not at rest because she is wanting her whanau tamariki/mokopuna (children & grandchildren) to come home from overseas.

The HCA and trainee are wanting to support Mrs. Kahu but she is not responding to them. The HCA had a meeting with her son and asking him on how to connect with his mother because she has refused to eat the food given to her. Mrs. Kahu told her son there is no tikanga Maori at the rest home, there is no karakia before their meals and in the dining room every person is looking lost.

Mrs. Kahu wants to go home but she is being assessed by the resident dietician as she needs to lose weight for her wellbeing. When her son explained about the diet plan, his mother got upset and felt it was a breach of her privacy and that she can eat whatever she wants.

In the coming days of Mrs .Kahu's stay at the residential unit she became more friendly with the HCA and trainee because they began to address her in the Maori language especially when they did the morning shift. Example, 'morena'(mornig) Mrs. Kahu and she would reply to them in Te Reo 'ata marie korua' (morning to both of you).

Not caring in a holistic manner can result in the tangata whaiora not following a treatment plan. Therefore it is important to be careful to check for agreement. Another reason for lack of adherence to care plans could be because the whanau may not fully understand why a support is being used and what the goals are.

Use open-ended questions to actively gather this feedback. Whanau members may also be able to identify the tangata whaiora's degree of understanding of health and support. Body language can differ between Maori and non-Maori. While Maori may prefer face-to-face meetings, as opposed to phone or email communications, prolonged eye contact is to be avoided. "Maori often say that we listen with our ears, not our eyes". Sustained direct eye contact can signal conflict or disrespect. Also, if there are more than two people involved in the conversation, sustained eye contact can exclude the ones not speaking. Also remember that, while lack of eye contact may be a sign of respect, it may be due to other factors such as anxiety, boredom or anger.

Assignment Tasks: Task 1
1.1 Identify and describe three instances that may lead to whakama in a Maori client. Give one example with Mrs. Kahu.
1.2 Analyse the potential impacts of whakama discussed in task 1.1 (positive and/or negative impacts) on the health outcomes of a Maori client. Include any three (3) impacts.
1.3 Identify and explain any two (2) strategies that may be used by the Health care assistant (HCA to help develop a positive relationship with their Maori clients.

Task 2

2.1 Identify any four (4) impacts of colonisation on Maori population and explain with an example from the case study.
2.2 Research any two (2) issues in detail and draw conclusions of impacts of colonisation hauora of the indigenous Maori of New Zealand.
Range: Issues may include but are not restricted to social structure, political structure, economic position, culture, language, religion, education, urban migration, employment and housing)
2.3 Describe the application of any four values for culturally safe Maori Healthcare practice (8 marks: 2 marks for describing the application of each value)

Task 3
3.1 Explain the principles of The Treaty of Waitangi.
3.2 How would you apply the principles of The Treaty in the case of Mrs Kahu.