Cultural Safety and Cultural Humility When You Use Traditional Healing

Why this page is here

People who use traditional healing often worry that a clinician will dismiss it, and clinicians often do not know how to ask. Two ideas from Indigenous health leadership help: cultural safety and cultural humility. This page explains them in plain language, so you can ask for respectful care and so you can judge how any provider talks about traditional healing. It is information only and does not replace advice from your own clinician.

Cultural safety

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners quotes the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) definition: cultural safety is determined by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families and communities. [1] The RACGP adds that whether safety has been achieved is judged on the experience of the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person in the exchange. [1] In other words, the person receiving care decides whether it felt safe, not the clinician.

The same source describes culturally safe practice as ongoing critical reflection on the practitioner's knowledge, skills, attitudes and behavior, and on power differences. [1] It calls cultural safety an essential part of clinical safety and patient safety, not an optional extra. [1] AHPRA, which regulates health practitioners in Australia, has said that patient safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is inextricably linked with cultural safety, and it works toward a health system that is culturally safe and free from racism. [2]

The First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia, Canada, uses a similar idea. It describes cultural safety as an outcome based on respectful engagement that recognizes and strives to address power imbalances in the health care system. [3]

Cultural humility

The First Nations Health Authority describes cultural humility as a process of self-reflection to understand personal and systemic biases and to develop and maintain respectful processes and relationships. [3] It involves humbly acknowledging oneself as a learner when it comes to understanding another's experience. [3] Put simply, humility is what a clinician does, and safety is what the patient experiences.

These terms come from specific contexts and are not identical in every country. Definitions above are Australian and Canadian, and you may meet different wording elsewhere. We do not claim they apply to every culture in the same way.

What this looks like in practice

These points are our plain-language reading of the definitions, not standards that apply to every clinic.

• The clinician asks you what matters to you and listens, instead of assuming.
• Questions about traditional healing come without judgment and with a real interest in your safety.
• You are told what a medicine or treatment does, and you decide.
• Your healer or community can be part of your care if you wish.
• If something feels disrespectful, you can say so, ask for another clinician or contact the service's feedback process.

Using traditional healing and medical care together

Many people use both. The Health New Zealand page on rongoā says it is best to tell your healthcare provider if you use traditional healing, so they are aware of any potential conflicts. [4] A good clinician should make that easy. Tell them about any herbs or products you take, because some can interact with medicines. See talking to your doctor about traditional healing and traditional herbs and prescription medicines.

Cultural safety does not mean accepting any claim without question. It does not mean replacing or stopping prescribed treatment, or delaying care for a serious condition such as cancer or diabetes. See when traditional healing delays needed medical care. If you are in danger or having a medical emergency, call your local emergency number (in the US, 911).

For people outside the culture

Cultural humility also applies when you seek out a tradition that is not your own. Learn the basics before you ask a healer anything, accept limits on what will be shared, and avoid treating a tradition as a product. See cultural appropriation and traditional healing products and how this section describes traditions respectfully.

How this fits into health systems

Some health services work with traditional healers directly. See traditional healers and modern health systems for examples and limits.