Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing E-Newsletter

Issue no. 16 / October 2013

Senior's Week Celebration Day!

Thousands of Victorian seniors and their families braved the uncertain weather to participate in Celebration Day – the opening day of Senior’s Week at Federation Square on Sunday 6 October.

The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing hosted a highly successful stall along the banks of the Yarra and distributed information about aged care in Australia in 18 different languages. With the assistance of representatives from Chinese Community Social Services, Macedonian Community Welfare Association, Australian Croatian Community Services and Victorian Arabic Social Services, we engaged with hundreds of people and gave away over 450 information packs.

The continued success of our involvement in Celebration Day is testament to the cultural diversity that exists in our ageing population and demonstrates the need to provide information about aged care in a culturally and linguistically appropriate format.

View more photos here

Diversity in Ageing Partners Network

The inaugural ‘Cultural Diversity in Ageing Partners Network’ was held on the 29th August 2013.

The forum, “Effective Partnerships and Cultural Diversity in Ageing” brought together respresentatives from over 30 different organisations including those funded under the Aged Care Service Improvement Healthy Ageing Grants Fund.

Bruce Shaw from Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia (FECCA) joined us from Canberra and provided an overview of FECCA’s role in the aged care Living Longer Living Better reforms. He also outlined a number of projects addressing cultural diversity and ageing that are undertaken by FECCA.

Other speakers on the day included representatives from Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria (ECCV), Carers Victoria, Diversitat, Australian Greek Welfare, Healthcare Chaplaincy Council of Victoria Inc and Elder Rights Advocacy.

The Cultural Diversity in Ageing Partners Network will be held quarterly and will provide an ongoing opportunity for sharing of ideas, potential partnerships and joint projects.

Pictured (above): From left - Lina Hassan (Victorian Arabic Social Services), Angela Quero (Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre), Ljubica Petrov (Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing), Shemiran Gevergizyan (Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre)

Cultural Diversity in Ageing Workshops

The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing is running a series of workshops in Melbourne and regional Victoria. Covering the themes of residential care, home care, language services, managing diversity and dementia care, the workshops have attracted a lot of interest with all workshops booked out within the first few weeks of advertising.

The workshops held to date have been very well received and have attracted the following feedback from participants:

  - A well-run workshop with much useful information, would  recommend it to anyone!  (‘Cultural diversity in residential care’, Melbourne workshop)

  - Looking forward to more courses with the Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing, thank you for this workshop!
(‘Making the most of language services in aged care workshop’ Melbourne workshop)

  - All of the workshop was useful to me, encouraged a change of perspective. (Cultural diversity in Ageing, Otway regional workshop)

The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing will soon release dates for a new series of workshops to be run in 2014.

Photo (above): Participants at the 'Making the Most of Language Services in Delivering Quality Aged Care' Melbourne workshop.

Diversity in Ageing Leadership Initiative

Last month the Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing hosted the second forum under the Diversity in Ageing Leadership Initiative.  Attracting 40 leaders representing aged care providers, peak organisations, government and the tertiary sector, the forum was chaired by Dr Catherine Barrett, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University and featured a presentation by Ms Pat Sparrow, Director of Aged Care Reform Engagement, COTA Australia.

The theme of the day was ‘Aged Care Reforms – Focus on Diversity’ and included a systematic review of how the recent industry reforms have addressed the issue of diversity throughout the reform process and discussion of the strategies being adopted to ensure the implementation of the reforms are equitable and inclusive for all.

The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing’s Diversity in Ageing Leadership Initiative aims to provide an opportunity for leaders across the aged care industry to:

• explore contemporary best practice models and research;
• engage in discussion and debate about the best ways to address diversity in all its forms;
• enhance their capacity to provide leadership in this field; and
• harness and leverage the wealth of knowledge and experience across the sector.

View Pat Sparrow's presentation here

Pictured (above): From left - Dr Catherine Barrett and Ms Pat Sparrow

Carer Support Services in 22 Languages

The Migrant Information Centre (East Melbourne), as part of the past Community Partners Program and more recent funding through the Supporting CALD Communities project, has developed an information booklet about carer support services. The booklets are now available in 22 languages.

This booklet helps people understand what it means to be a “carer” and provides information on carer support services. An electronic copy of this resource is available online through the Migrant Information Centre Aged Care and Disability Services webpage.

Click here to view the resources

New Project to Develop Australian National Guidelines for Spiritual Care in Aged Care.

The Healthcare Chaplaincy Council of Victoria Inc (HCCVI), and the new national peak body ‘Pastoral and Spiritual Care of Older People’ (PASCOP) are partnering in a project to develop Australian National Guidelines for Spiritual Care in Aged Care. The proposed guidelines will outline best practice spiritual care in residential and community care settings.

Spiritual care is an integral part of a person-centred care model, and it is also a requirement in a number of key documents relating to aged care, including the Aged Care Accreditation Standards and the Australian Palliative Care Standards.

The new guidelines will provide clear information so that providers can incorporate comprehensive planning and service delivery for spiritual care.
This project is currently seeking funding from a variety of sources.

To assist with this process, you are invited to complete a brief survey (1 minute) that seeks to establish the usefulness of these guidelines for the sector.

For more information and to access this survey visit the HCCVI website.

“Host a Garden" - Macedonian Community Initiative

As a part of Suitable and Supported Healthy Ageing in Australia program, the Macedonian Community Welfare Association has established a gardening activity titled “Host a Garden.” Families of people with dementia are given the opportunity to participate in the program.

The activity has encouraged and provided an opportunity for physical activity and social inclusion. It has also contributed to raising awareness of the importance of carers looking after their own health and wellbeing.  All participants in the program have been enthusiastic about the activity because gardening is a part of their cultural heritage.

Given the many benefits of the program, MCWA will continue to implement the activity next year. For more information, contact Donna Domovski-Kantarovski on ph: (03) 9310 7566 or email: donna@mcwa.org.au

Free Cancer Prevention Information Sessions for Multicultural Community Groups

Reduce Risk: Live Well Sessions
‘Reduce Risk: Live Well’ sessions promote healthy lifestyle behaviours and increase awareness of common risk factors for cancer, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

These sessions are offered to community groups that speak Arabic, Cantonese, Greek and Spanish. The free sessions run for 60 minutes and inform participants about risk factors for chronic conditions, healthy eating, physical activity, quitting smoking and the importance of regular doctor visits.

These sessions are provided by Cancer Council Victoria, Diabetes Australia – Vic and the Heart Foundation

More information
 

Breast Health Sessions
Breast Health Information Sessions have been developed for multicultural community groups and can be presented in Arabic, Cantonese, Greek, Italian, Mandarin and Vietnamese. They are offered free for community groups and womens’ groups located throughout Melbourne.

These sessions provide the latest information about breast cancer risk factors and early detection strategies including breast health and screening.These sessions are provided by Cancer Council Victoria and BreastScreen Victoria.

More information

Contact Neela Konara via email on diversity@cancervic.org.au or phone 9635 5646.

Southern Migrant and Refugee Centre Multifaith Calendar

The Southern Migrant and Refugee Centre is in the process of creating a Multifaith Calendar for 2014, based on the positive response from the 2013 edition.

Based in the Greater Dandenong and Casey areas as part of the Southern CALD Healthy Ageing Project, the calendar has identified the major spiritual and religious events of Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic and Islamic faiths to help facilities incorporate these events into their annual activities.

The 2013 calendars were circulated among 12 different Residential Aged Care Facilities. Feedback from Life Style staff and community members was positive and suggestions for improvement were also offered that are being considered for the 2014 edition.

For more information, please contact felicita@smrc.org.au

The Sounds of Summer Concert

'Celebration of Life Events' presents the Sounds of Summer dance for residents of aged care facilities on Wednesday 23rd October 2013 at Northcote Town Hall.

The concert will feature the Huffers and Puffers, along with special guest Father Bob McGuire.

Family, friends and volunteers are all welcome to attend!

To book contact Paul Brophy on 0408 148 166 or email pbrophy@bsl.org.au