Delivering Health Services for Ethnic Minorities in Regional Australia

Abstract

Recent articles in the print media have served to highlight the fact that health services in regional Australia are inadequately servicing the needs of ethnic minorities. Despite an increased awareness of the need for culturally appropriate services in more recent years, Australia, as one of the most ethno-culturally diverse nations in the world, still largely relies on the patriarchal biomedical model of health care, which has a pathogenic approach, focusing on why people fall sick and on treatment, rather than on communication between the client and the professional health care worker. Such practice, while well-intentioned, detracts from the ability of regional health services to adequately service the needs of a culturally diverse client group and, in turn, de-emphasises the clear link which has now been established between culture and health.