Unit 2 Health And Social Care Case Study

of the usage of radiation and effects it can cause an unborn foetus. A standard pregnancy check, if not worked right and asked correctly could imply stereotyping and thus cause great offence to the patient and/ or their family. Radiographers need to ensure that they justify to the patient (and in some cases family) why they are asking for the pregnancy check. For example instead of asking ‘are you pregnant?’ or ‘could you be pregnant?’ radiographers should instead ask ‘because this examination involves the usage of radiation, is there any chance that you could be pregnant?’

Offensive names and generalisations need to be avoided to ensure there is no offence to the patient and family. Using teams such as Aborigine(s), Aboriginals, Native, mixed blood, half/quarter–caste, Part-Aboriginal, blacks/coloured, primitive are all considered offensive. Instead using the term Indigenous Australians or Koori should be used. Common mistakes like this may occur without the technologist even realising and could cause a large amount of unintended offence. Talking about death or dying and the deceased is considered offensive to some Indigenous Australians. To some, simply using the terms death, dying or dead is considered highly

“the unspoken messages given and received in aboriginal cultures probably have the greatest impact on communication and hence a potential rapport between health care workers and clients” (Eckermann, et al 1992) silence can mean a number of things such as that one has listened intently and has understood what has been said, one would like to ask a question but doesn’t feel comfortably to or may not feel it is their place to ask questions, they may be offended if something culturally offensive has been said, or the individual is feeling uncomfortable in an unfamiliar environment and so the silence is used as a safeguard until they feel comfortable in their