When Anna and I started to develop this, our goal was to help professionals offer safer care which is why we termed it ‘safe’. However that’s the outcome and through my reflection, we can’t offer safe care unless we are aligned with the needs of the communities we are caring for.

There are some other terms we also considered but they didn’t quite describe what we’re doing:

Cultural competency indicates that offering equitable care is a skill, which it is definitely not. It is also implies that there is set goal, a box that needs to be ticked whereas Cultural Alignment is about continual growth and reflection.

Culturally informed and appropriate are both great starting points but again, it indicates that knowledge is sufficient rather than reflective professional development.

Culturally inclusive is something we considered, but it focuses on including the ‘other’ rather than changing practice at the core. We should be working beyond inclusivity by meeting the needs of families as a basic standard.

Culturally safe is still a term we will regularly use, however this is still one step below alignment, and should be the foundation we work from.

We believe that Culturally Aligned Practice best represents the process to continuously offer safer and more equitable care by responding to the needs of the families your caring for. Just like we now look at whether we offer Trauma Informed practice, we also now need to look at Culturally Aligned.

~ Manisha – Co-founder & Trainer 

If you’d like to find out more about our Training & Consultancy services, click here or email us at manishasheth.sme@gmail.com