Meeting needs of ageing CALD Australians

The Review of Australian Research on Older People from CALD Backgrounds was launched by the Minister for Social Services, Scott Morrison MP, at the Parliament House in Canberra, at an event hosted by the co-convenors of the Parliamentary Friends of Multiculturalism, the Member for Calwell Maria Vamvakinou and the Member for McMillan Russell Broadbent.

Despite increasing numbers of older Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, research about this group has only been sporadic.

As a response, FECCA worked with the Australian Population and Migration Research Centre at the University of Adelaide, to review the Australian research on older people from CALD backgrounds.

The aims of the review were to identify the existing research evidence base about older CALD Australians and to identify gaps in the research, covering four broad topic areas:

• older people from CALD backgrounds in general;
• older people from CALD backgrounds with dementia;
• ageing and mental health issues for people from CALD backgrounds; and
• CALD carers and carers of older people from CALD backgrounds.

The review report highlights that older people from CALD backgrounds are not a homogeneous group and therefore meeting their needs is highly complex. 

Many older people from CALD backgrounds reportedly have higher levels of disadvantage and other risk factors than older Anglo-Australians.

The major barriers faced by older people from CALD backgrounds are language and cultural understandings.

The following have been identified in the literature as strategies to overcome these challenges:

• provide information in preferred language;
• ensure high quality standard of translation of printed material;
• make available bilingual staff and/or interpreters;
• clarify aged care concepts and terms that may be unfamiliar, for example ‘carer’ and ‘respite’; and
• provide information through appropriate and preferred channels which may differ between communities. It is also important to acknowledge that many CALD groups also experience language barriers within their own communities and in their native language. 

Speaking at the event, FECCA chair, Joe Caputo, says: “The review is unique in that it has for the first time systematically identified current evidence and gaps in research on older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Australia.

“This is a significant start and, we hope, it will guide policy makers, researchers, and service providers in promoting better practice, stronger collaborative partnerships and better outcomes for all older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.”

To view the report, click here. To view the factsheets accompanying the report, click here.