Paper short abstract:

This presentation explores the intersection of a holistic, culturally informed Aboriginal Transfer of Care model and the culture of 'we treat everybody the same.' Why does Aboriginal health and nursing practices sometimes achieve congruency within a hospital, but at other times do not?

Paper long abstract:

This presentation is an anthropologist's reflection on some of the qualitative findings from a mixed-methods evaluation of the Aboriginal Transfer of Care (ATOC) model at South Western Sydney Local Health District. Aboriginal people with chronic conditions are more likely to leave hospital with incomplete transfer of care arrangements and more likely to be readmitted after a recent hospitalisation. ATOC was designed to address this problem by considering an Aboriginal patient's medical, cultural and psychosocial needs as they leave hospital and return to the community.

The model involves the Aboriginal Liaison Officers and Transfer of Care nurses working as team to deliver a holistic patient-centred model of care, through comprehensive discharge planning. The values and knowledge systems underpinning the practice of the two roles sometimes achieve congruency within a hospital context, but at other times do not. Staff reflections coupled with ethnographic detail suggest that there is a clash between a nursing culture that wants to 'treat everybody the same' and a model of care that acknowledges Aboriginal patients with chronic conditions and their specific needs. This presentation seeks to understand this incongruity and its implications for care, alongside current anthropological literature that may shed light on this phenomenon. This is also an opportunity for the presenter to discuss with the panel how and why a 'treat everybody the same' culture might exist.