Parent-centred and Culturally-competent Literacies for Health Promotion with Newly Arrived African Communities: A Literature Review

When considering culturally competent health literacy in newly arrived communities the following key concepts are important: Health literacy and literacy - People practice and use literacy in many ways. People use text or the written word, oral literacy (or the spoken word), visual literacy (or images) and technological literacy (through the use of information and communication technologies). They also draw on other people who mediate health-related information. People's identities and their access to social networks shape their use of literacy practices and their engagement with health promoting activities. Literacy practices are not static. Initiatives to improve health literacy need to be responsive to the social context (e.g. migration experience; life history; gender; ethnicity; religion; life stage; education) and integrate expertise from both the health promotion and the adult literacy fields. Collectivism and authoritarianism - Most western cultures, such as Australia, support an environment that promotes individualism. With parenting, this translates to parenting styles that place high priority on children's autonomy, individual achievement, self-expression and egalitarianism. However, African (and other) cultures place a high priority on collectivism and authoritarianism as the norm. Authoritarianism is characterized by the imposition of an absolute set of standards, the valuing of obedience and respect for authority. In this sense the collectivist cultures discourage self-assertion and autonomy, and the goal of parenting is the promotion of interdependence, cooperation, compliance without discussion, and inhibition of personal wishes. Acculturation - Acculturation of immigrants and refugees is a complex and dynamic interaction that takes place between groups settling in the host country and the people, culture, environment, politics and systems of the new country. The impact of acculturation on the health and wellbeing of new arrivals is significant and there are several models of acculturation described in the literature. A way to support health appears to be through a combination of maintenance of beneficial traditional elements of life as well as adopting useful host cultural skills. Cultural competence - The literature frames 'cultural competence' as the evolution of the terms cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness. The concept is important as it shifts focus from the individual to the organisation and systems. The ethos of cultural competence is a reflective practice and ongoing process of learning, valuing and interacting crossculturally at an individual, organisation and system level.