• Protected: What does it mean to be Asian in the bay?

    There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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  • Protected: Unpacking RACE

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  • Wearable devices and the potential for community health improvement

    Wearable devices and the potential for community health improvement

    Written for and first published in in the August 2016 edition of Nurse Click  (the Australian College of Nursing’s monthly electronic, interactive PDF publication available to ACN members, and to stakeholders, the wider nursing and non-nursing community who subscribe to it.). Cite as: DeSouza, R. (2016). Wearable devices and the potential for community health improvement. Nurse…

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  • Sensing horizontality: I bought a wearable device to monitor my sleep

    Are you a  night owl or an early bird? Or do you fall in between? I succumbed and bought a wearable device because I thought it could be useful to track my sleep. I spend a few nights in the city every week and I notice that I feel less rested than when I am ‘home’. It seems…

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  • Smells and bodies out of place: Microaggressions on public transport

    A winter evening, wet and cold. Squashed into a tram. When a seat became available, I swooped down into it, finding myself next to a woman who proceeded to cover her nose. As she fanned her face with her other hand, I asked her with gentle concern if she was ok. She responded vehemently and with…

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  • Protected: Supporting conversations about cultural safety: Possum skin bracelet making

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  • Using forum theatre to facilitate reflection and culturally safe practice in nursing

    Unpublished manuscript for those who might be interested. Cite as: DeSouza, R. (2016, July 16). Using forum theatre to facilitate reflection and culturally safe practice in nursing [Web log post]. Retrieved from: http://ruthdesouza.dreamhosters.com/2016/07/16/using-forum-theatre-for-reflective-practice/ High quality communication is central to nursing practice and to nurse education. The quality of interaction between service users/patients and inter-professional teams…

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  • Receiving the stranger: Moving from individual to collective and community responsibility

    This is a longer version of a foreword in the Winter 2016 edition of the Hive (the Australian College of Nursing’s quarterly publication). After the refs, I’ve added my own experience of living through Cyclone Isaac, which was declared by the Tongan authorities to have been the worst disaster in Tongan history.  You can also download the pdf of Receiving the stranger. If one…

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  • Providing Culturally Safe Maternal and Child Healthcare

    Cite as: DeSouza, R. (2016, June 1st). Keynote address-Providing Culturally Safe Maternal and Child Healthcare, Multicultural Health Research to Practice Forum: Early Interventions in Maternal and Child Health, Program, Organised by the Multicultural Health Service, South Eastern Sydney, Local Health District, Australia. Retrieved fromhttp://ruthdesouza.dreamhosters.com/2016/06/11/cultural-safety-in-maternity/   A paragraph haunts me in The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri’s fictional account of the Indian immigrant experience. Ashoke and…

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  • “I had to keep my options open”: White mothers and neoliberal maternity

    Unpublished manuscript that never found an appropriate institutional home, but sharing for those who might be interested. Cite as: DeSouza, R., & Butt, D. (2016, June 11). “I had to keep my options open”: White mothers and neoliberal maternity. [Web log post]. Retrieved from: http://ruthdesouza.dreamhosters.com/2016/06/11/i-had-to-keep-my-options-open-white-mothers-and-neoliberal-maternity/ Where patriarchal healthcare institutions saw birth as a process controlled by male doctors…

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  • Cultural safety: Discourse analysis and the culture of healthcare

    I’m doing a presentation! Date and Time: Wednesday 20th April Time: 3pm – 4pm Location: VTMH Seminar Room,  St Vincent’s Hospital,  Level 1, Bolte Wing (Enter Via Nicholson Street). Book here. Abstract Cultural safety was developed by Indigenous nurses in Aotearoa New Zealand as a mechanism for considering and equalizing power relationships between client and practitioner.…

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  • Embracing uncertain ground: Multicultural health

    Health professionals from migrant backgrounds bring new ways of seeing and doing that can innovate practice, but differences are often framed as a deficit rather than a strength. The 2016 Autumn edition of the Hive (the Australian College of Nursing’s quarterly publication) focuses on indigenous and multicultural health.The wonderful Janine Mohammed, Chief Executive Officer of the Congress of Aboriginal…

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  • The Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Association (AWGSA) member profile

    If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Fearless speech or parrhesia. Favourite food? I have to say Goan food. It represents connection to my ancestral homeland, as well as to my family. It has sustained me through multiple migrations and immediately evokes comfort and nurturance. What do you think is an important…

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  • What is privilege and cultural appropriation? and why is it so difficult to talk about?

    On 15 February 2016, I spoke on 612 ABC Brisbane Afternoons with Kelly Higgins-Devine about cultural appropriation and privilege. Our discussion was followed by discussion with guests: Andie Fox – a feminist and writer; Carol Vale a Dunghutti woman; and Indigenous artist, Tony Albert. I’ve used the questions asked during the interview as a base for this blog with thanks to Amanda Dell…

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  • Review: Australian mental health nurses and transgender clients: Attitudes and knowledge

    This is a longer version of a review of Damien Riggs & Clare Bartholomaeus’ paper published in the Journal of Research in Nursing: Australian mental health nurses and transgender clients: Attitudes and knowledge. Cite as: De Souza, R. (2016). Review: Australian mental health nurses and transgender clients: Attitudes and knowledge. Journal of Research in Nursing, 0(0)…

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  • All I want for Christmas is… On International Day of Solidarity with Migrants 2015

    December 18th marks the anniversary of the signing of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families by the United Nations in 1990. Lobbying from Filipino and other Asian migrant organisations in 1997, led to December18th being promoted as an International Day of Solidarity with Migrants. The day…

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  • Medical pluralism: Supporting co-existing diverse therapeutic traditions in mental health

    This was first published in the Spring 2015 edition (Issue 41) of the Federation of Ethnic Councils of Australia (FECCA) national magazine, Australian Mosaic. Cite as: DeSouza, R. (2015). Medical pluralism: Supporting co-existing diverse therapeutic traditions in mental health. Australian Mosaic (FECCA). 41, 34-36. Decades afterward, I still recall the frequent waking, getting out of bed and…

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  • Making visible: The role of the arts in supporting participation and inclusion for people with experience of mental ill health

    I was honored to be invited to write a catalogue piece for an exhibition which opened during Mental Health Awareness Week 2015 at Mangere Arts Centre – Nga tohu o Uenuku and which closes on 22nd November. Lotus in Bloom is an exhibition of works by artist members of the Tufunga Arts Trust, whose visual arts programme…

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  • Politics and policies reflect values: Border Force Act 2015 and the Immigration Amendment Bill (NZ)

    World Refugee Day in June acknowledges the courage, resilience and contributions of refugees. On this day, I acknowledge those caught in geopolitical situations that aren’t of their own making. I acknowledge those who risk life and limb for a better life. I acknowledge those who create new lives despite horror, profound loss and hardship. I acknowledge…

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  • Knowledge and action, developing evidence for an equity agenda

    Speech given at the launch of a partnership between Monash University and Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health (CEH) April 29th 2015 and the celebration of CEH’s 21st birthday. I would like to show my respect and acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land on which this launch takes place, the Wurundjeri-willam people of the Kulin…

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