Communication skills used by registrars when consulting with Indigenous patients
| Subtheme | Participant quotes |
| Eye contact | …if I have a patient who I’ve seen from the chart is Indigenous, I normally start off avoiding eye contact initially and then just kind of see what they’re doing to then see, is this person also doing it [avoiding eye contact]? And then try and feel out early on, does it seem like they’re looking away or uncomfortable? Or if I look them in the eyes, do they appreciate that and prefer that? (4091) |
| Other non-verbal communication skills | I actually found that touch was actually a good thing: sitting there and like actually holding their hand. (6389) … I try and sit down if I can…So there isn't… [a feeling] I'm standing over them… And a lot of body language issues like not being necessarily front on, it can be kind of confrontational in the same way as the eye contact, sitting rather than standing over them. (4091) |
| Use of informal language (including slang and humour) | I guess the biggest thing I try to do is not create like a authority type situation where I am above them by any means. Just because I'm a doctor, I try to be as casual as I can. I want them to treat me like somebody …that they're just talking to casually and that they would want to just tell everything to…So, I guess appropriate understanding, common slang terms and then appropriate words to use in return… So, things like when they say that, oh, “This is deadly”. (2601) |
| Enquiry about connection to country | One thing I learned after our training as well actually is that often when we've got some time, especially after doing our consult, it is just to ask a little bit about, you know, where are you from and like how long have you been there? Is that is that where your family is from or just try to get a bit more of an understanding? I have found that when I’ve asked those questions, I found out a lot of surprising things… (2601) |
| Use of the question, ‘Are you of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?’ | I know there’s one time where it was a new patient to me, and I was just filling up the system for the patient’s profile. And I think rather than saying, “Do you identify yourself as?“, you know, in a more politically correct way, I kind of just said, oh, “Are you Aboriginal?” And then they're like, “Yeah, well, I can be, can't I?” And I was like, “Oh, no, I didn't mean like that, you know?” Yeah. So, I think it just slipped too quickly versus me processing it and using it the more PC [politically correct] way of asking. Yeah. So, I had to quickly say to them, “No, no, no, I didn't mean that. I just meant I just need to fill up your information. Doesn’t matter who you identify, what you identify as, it’s just with the Aboriginal status, you do get a lot more perks or a lot more things that we need to look into. (6434) But on the flip side, I'm blatantly asking, “Are you a particular race?", so that I could treat you accordingly. So, I'm very conflicted with that sometimes. Or a young child that comes in asking them like, have you had those extra vaccines because you're at risk of this and this. So, it’s so, I, I try to say I'm trying to be professional, but I can see how some people can see that as offensive. It’s like, “Oh, how dare you ask me that, so I'm lesser so I need more vaccines or need…?" (3270) I don't tend to ask [about identity] and that’s because it’s already collected. So, I already know from the information. If it’s not written there, it often comes up though, if I'm having to do additional paperwork, then I say, “I just I would like to check. Do you identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?” …And, so, I often don't necessarily ask them, particularly in the consult every time. (7400) |