Other information on miscommunication in Yolŋu health care

These are some of the communication difficulties in the context of Yolŋu health care which have been identified in other reports:

Communication barriers prevent (non-Yolŋu) health service providers from being able to:

• diagnose patients' complaints in the normal question and answer way;
• inform Yol\u patients of their condition (sometimes life threatening) and obtain proper consent before carrying out medical procedures;
• deliver health education and prevention information to patients in a time and cost-effective way;
• accurately diagnose the overall problem and develop programs that are culturally sensitive and appropriate;
• evaluate these programs and modify them so they become more effective.

(Trudgen, R. 2000. Why warriors lie down and die. Darwin, Aboriginal Resource and Development Services Inc. p.73)

In 1997 a survey of patients conducted in Nhulunbuy for THS reported that:

• Aboriginal patients felt that, although they were generally treated with respect, most staff where very ignorant of key cultural understandings
• most Aboriginal patients were dissatisfied with the level of explanations about diagnosis and treatment - this was the area in which linguistic and cultural barriers to good communication were most apparent during the survey
• most Aboriginal patients were totally unaware of what their medication was for.

(Aboriginal Resource and Development Services, 1997, Patient Survey - Gove District Hospital. Darwin, ARDS)

Click here for information about the 'Just scratching the surface' project (Edis, 1998) which investigated the extent and nature of miscommunication between health staff and Yol\u in simulated interactions.

Click here to download a summary of related research from the 'Sharing the True Stories' Stage 1 Interim report.