$2.7 million for culturally appropriate care

The Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot has announced more than $2.7 million for organisations to help aged care service providers deliver culturally appropriate care.

The $2.7 million will be provided to the Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care (PICAC) program over the next two years to assist aged care providers deliver culturally appropriate care for older people from non-English speaking backgrounds.

PICAC funds an organisation in each state and territory to work collaboratively with aged care providers, ethnic communities and the Department of Health and Ageing to improve access to culturally specific aged care information and services.

The funding  will assist in providing:

• More aged care services delivering culturally appropriate care to older people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities;
• Older people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities with increased access to culturally appropriate residential and community based aged care services including aged care support services; and
• Older people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities having greater capacity to make informed decisions about residential and community based aged care.

The 2006 Census reported that almost a quarter (22%) of Australian residents were born overseas.

Mrs Elliot said the continuation of the program was an important investment in older Australians from non-English speaking backgrounds.

“Older people born overseas or from culturally diverse backgrounds may have more difficulty finding out about their aged care options, due to language and cultural barriers.

“Providing information about culturally appropriate care is essential in improving access to care and ensuring their healthy and positive ageing,” she said.

In addition, the Rudd Government will be providing more than $15 million in funding for the Community Partners Program over the next three years.

The Community Partners Program funds organisations to provide support for older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to access aged care information and services.