Multicultural Seniors' Co-design and Consultation Workshops
The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing facilitated three multicultural seniors' co-design and consultation workshops in collaboration with Impacto Consulting, Spectrum, Southern Migrant & Refugee Centre, and the African Women's and Families Network. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care participated as observers.
The Centre consulted with seniors from diverse cultural, linguistic and faith backgrounds on what it means for them to age well.
Key topics that seniors raised included:
cost of living pressures,
need for culturally appropriate care and support,
issues related to express oneself in one's preferred language,
challenges for couples where both require aged care support,
need to support seniors to access digital technology,
governance training for volunteers of ethnic seniors' clubs,
preference to stay at home or with family and/or carer as long as possible,
funding for ethno-specific or culturally appropriate aged care services and
facilities particularly for new and emerging communities,
importance of a healthy ageing and social connections
funding for multicultural volunteers, carers groups, and social or seniors'
groups,
issues related to grief when losing a partner,
preference for direct contact options rather than anonymous hotlines,
lack of awareness on how to make a complaint about aged care services,
responsibilities associated with being a carer and the need for more carers'
respite, and
expectations that community consultations will have a meaningful impact
on government policies and aged care reforms.
The next step will be the development of a consultation report.
