RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Using Indigenous Australian drama to break cultural barriers in healthcare relationships
JF Medical Humanities
JO J Med Humanit
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics
SP 47
OP 53
DO 10.1136/jmh.2008.000364
VO 35
IS 1
A1 K Matharu
YR 2009
UL http://mh.bmj.com/content/35/1/47.abstract
AB Since colonisation, the marginalisation of Indigenous Australians has adversely affected their language, culture and health. Mainstream society has failed to address social differences and establish culturally-appropriate health programmes for these groups. This paper extracts important humanistic themes within the context of health from four Indigenous Australian plays written during a period of social unrest in response to past oppression: (1) The dreamers, by Jack David; (2) Murras, by Eva Johnson; (3) Coordah, by Richard Walley; and (4) The keepers, by Bob Maza. These plays will be analysed to (a) illuminate human suffering from an indigenous perspective, based upon social and cultural planes of analysis; (b) understand the socio-cultural basis of poor health; and (c) instruct healthcare professionals that health is a social construct that can be interpreted as the product of select plays that are not solely based upon an illness narrative.