Reference no: EM133626635

Case Study: Maya

Maya is an Aboriginal woman from the Kimberley region. She lives in a small, remote community but has recently entered an aged care facility as she is seriously ill with cancer. She is not expected to live more than a few months. The closest aged care facility that could take her was four hour's drive from her home. The facility has only one male Aboriginal worker, Benny. The rest of the personal care workers are all female non-Aboriginal people. Most of the residents at the facility are non-Aboriginal.

Maya does not settle well into the facility. She does not eat the food unless it has been brought to her from her family. She likes to chat with Benny and tells him that he is the only one who understands how she feels about being so far away from home. She will not let Benny assist her with tasks such as dressing and bathing, however, as he is male. She often refuses to shower.

Other residents have complained that Maya is rude and often ignores them, and never looks them in the face. They also say she is dirty and they do not want to associate with her.

Benny explains the process that will happen when Maya is near death. Various members of her family will gather to be with her. On her death they will conduct a smoking ceremony to purify the room and remove bad spirits. The body will then be taken back to her homeland to be buried.

The health and safety officer says that he understands this is Maya's custom, but the smoking ceremony cannot be undertaken in her room. This would set off the smoke detectors and other residents may complain about the smoke. He suggests they do the smoking ceremony when her body is back at home.

Benny rolls his eyes and walks out of the room in disgust.

Refer to the Case Study. Select one of the workplace improvements you have identified and identify three ways you could promote these changes.