New Palliative Care Resource
While we don’t like to think about it, aged care nursing homes are the place where people spend the final chapter in their life. For families, this can be daunting and a new booklet to help has just been released as a collaborative initiative by a number of leading Australian organisations and services.
The new ‘Affirming Life: What is a palliative approach?’ booklet is aimed at relatives or friends who have a loved one in residential aged care, and provides information on the palliative approach, while encouraging family participation in this final chapter of life.
Available through Palliative Care Victoria, the booklet has useful information that is easy to understand, links and contacts for a range of services that will assist family members. Topics include palliative care, pain, dementia, cultural and spiritual consideration and grief, loss and depression.
Funded by the Department of Health and Ageing and written by experts in the field with endorsement from Palliative Care Victoria, Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing and Aged and Community Care Victoria, the free booklet is available through Palliative Care Victoria by calling (03) 9662 9644. It is also available online at: http://www.pallcarevic.asn.au/resources-links/resources/
Resources for Arabic Speakers
The Tripoli and Mena Association have recently developed a series of resources to assist aged care service providers work and communicate more effectively with Arabic-speaking Muslim elderly.
Available in many areas of Sydney and other regions on request, the Tripoli and Mena Association visit aged care providers who express interest in the resources and present a free Cultural Brief session. The resources are then provided at a small production fee.
The new resources consist of:
Resource Development Portfolio – This is a collection of practical resources aimed at enhancing communication and relationships with Arabic speaking Muslim clients. Easy to use and proven to be highly effective, the resources include:
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A hard copy of the Cultural Brief
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Transliterated Language Cue Charts
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Islamic Calendar of Events (Including important religious dates and events)
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Arabic-speaking Health Professionals Resource
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Religious Leaders Resource (contact details of religious leaders who are willing to visit elderly Muslims)
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Arabic Media Resource
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Halal Butchers Resources
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Funeral Services Resource
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Welfare Organisations
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Praying Facilities Resource
These resources are reviewed annually and then sent to providers who have existing copies of the portfolio.
Quality Care: Working with Arabic-speaking Muslim elderly information DVD - This 20 minute educational DVD provides a summary of the Cultural Brief.
Transliterated signage - Using the principle of phonetics, these signs are transliterated resources that help aged care workers communicate with Arabic speaking elderly who do not speak English. Each sign features the Arabic and English word, a photo and the phonetic transliteration.
To find out more about the new resources, call the Tripoli and Mena Association on 02 9758 1366 or 02 9759 3436.
Time to talk diabetes…in Greek!
Members of the Greek community living with diabetes have a special new tool to help them better understand and manage their condition. Nursing and healthcare provider RDNS (Royal District Nursing Service) has released a 'talking book' to help inform Greek people about the condition in general and to assist them to deal with their own condition in a more informed way.
Called 'Information on Diabetes in Greek', the talking book is a multiple-media tool that can be viewed on a computer. Like any book, the presentation is split into different chapters, each dealing with a specific aspect of diabetes. In total, 10 important diabetes topics are covered.
The book uses simple information sheets, short case studies and role-plays, and uses easy to understand terms. Most importantly, all information is provided in Greek, with the option of English translations if people require it.
People have the choice of reading the information on screen or listening to it and hearing stories about how other members of the Greek community successfully manage their diabetes. The information sheets (in Greek and English) can also be printed out for easy use.
The talking book will be distributed by RDNS nurses to their Greek clients and their families. However, the book is available for anyone to use if necessary on the RDNS website.
