Embedded within the Physiotherapy Standards Framework are standards and principles directed at ensuring physiotherapists are culturally safe/competent. The importance of recognising and respecting culture, to treat accordingly, guarantee that the principles of the Physiotherapy code of ethics and professional conduct are not undermined.
As a person with Pacific origins, and a physiotherapist, there are commonalities and similarities that are shared between traditional Pacific values and the principles of our profession. However, does that then mean that an in depth understanding of Pacific values for me, correlates directly with an in depth understanding of the principles of the code of ethics? Is the relationship then between value and principle reciprocal for every Pacific person?
Culture in clinical spaces is something that we work towards identifying. So that we can find some commonality, some similarity between us and patients. Akin to the point of Pacific value and Physiotherapy principle, we may share comparable traits, beliefs, and values with our patients but fundamentally very different ‘truths’ and ‘propositions’.
As physiotherapists working with an increasingly diverse population, the onus is put on us to be more culturally respectful, more culturally safe, and more accountable.
We can see the significance of this when it is expected that we “practise with due care and respect for a patient’s culture, needs, values, worldviews and beliefs, including Te Ao Māori”(Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct).
How do you ‘practise with due care and respect’ for a patient’s worldview that is inherently different from your own? Through a better understanding of ones’ worldview.
So, join me on a journey as we navigate through an indigenous space and explore the concept of time from an indigenous lens. From a Pacific perspective, we will see contrasting ideologies with Westernised views regarding time and why it is important for clinical practice.