MACMILLAN A Cultural Safety Approach to Health Psychology (Sustainable Development Goals Series)

This book applies the concept of cultural safety to the field of health psychology in a US context as a means to achieve health equity. First developed in New Zealand by Māori midwives, cultural safety can be understood as both a philosophy and a way of working within a social model of health as an alternative approach to understanding health and illness. Health, social, and human service professionals are at the forefront of interactions with a range of people who often experience disparities in health and social outcomes.  In thirteen chapters, the authors explore the social determinants of health; the practices and pitfalls of intercultural communication; and community capacity, resilience, and strengths as correctives to discourses of deficiency. The book concludes with a comparative look at cultural safety in different national contexts, and a discussion of the value of critical reflective practice. Complete with chapter objectives, scenarios, suggested readings and films, and questions for critical thinking, this book is an invaluable resource for students and practitioners alike in health psychology and related fields, and a vital contribution to the literature on cultural safety.  Review “This book is an invaluable resource for psychology students that puts cultural safety at the forefront of physical and mental health and facilitates thinking beyond the biomedical model. The authors incorporate a broad range of effective teaching methods in their chapters. Even more importantly, the book does not shy away from uncomfortable discussions, challenging us all to think beyond the colonial lens through which the health and psychology fields have historically operated.” –  Dr. Mary Cwik, Center for American Indian Health, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, USA "This is a landmark publication. The lack of cultural safety is one of our biggest challenges in the US health care system. We need to centralize the experience of diverse voices and communities, especially the hidden/marginalized, if we are to achieve health equity. Cultural safety is the most comprehensive approach to cultural discourse in health care. Training a workforce that has the ability work safely with cultural difference and to address the persistent inequities in the history and system of health and health care should be our #1 priority. I dream that someday we can require cultural safety throughout our health care system. This book provides the necessary introduction to cultural safety for health care in the United States." ― Prof. Nathaniel Mohatt, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, USA  From the Back Cover “This book is an invaluable resource for psychology students that puts cultural safety at the forefront of physical and mental health and facilitates thinking beyond the biomedical model.”  ― Dr. Mary Cwik, Center for American Indian Health, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, USA  “This is a landmark publication that provides the necessary introduction to cultural safety for health care in the United States.”  ― Prof. Nathaniel Mohatt, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, USA  This book applies the concept of cultural safety to the field of health psychology in a US context as a means to achieve health equity. First developed in New Zealand by Māori midwives, cultural safety can be understood as both a philosophy and a way of working within a social model of health as an alternative approach to understanding health and illness. Health, social, and human service professionals are at the forefront of interactions with a range of people who often experience disparities in health and social outcomes.  In thirteen chapters, the authors explore the social determinants of health; the practices and pitfalls of intercultural communication; and community capacity, resilience, and strengths as correctives to discourses of deficiency. The book concludes wit