A Cultural Safety Approach to Health Psychology

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.

About the Author

Pauline B. Thompson is Professor of Psychology at the Pennsylvania State University Brandywine Campus, USA. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, she has held academic appointments at Flinders University and the University of South Australia in Australia and Waikato University in New Zealand.

Kerry Taylor is Associate Professor at Flinders University in South Australia. She has worked and taught in Indigenous health and education, including cultural awareness/safety teaching, for over 30 years.