Seniors need multilingual carers
The rapidly ageing migrant population is facing a growing shortage of multilingual carers, according to South Australian multicultural aged care workers.
Migrant care providers are turning to the jobless in their own communities, or looking overseas, to recruit workers.
The low-paying sector is struggling to recruit workers but the shortage is more acute for the migrant community, which needs staff with appropriate language skills as well as aged care training.
The number of migrants aged over 65 is expected to grow almost 20% in the decade to 2016, with many losing what English they have as they age.
“There’s a real need in the community . . . there’s a real gap,” said Rosa Colanero, chief executive of industry support and advisory service, Multicultural Aged Care.
She said ethnic aged care homes are getting “creative” about bridging the gap, with the Italian Benevolent Foundation South Australia, which runs three homes for predominantly Italian residents, at one stage taking the costly step of becoming a Registered Training Organisation.
Other facilities, and even families themselves, have resorted to importing carers, she said.
The Italian government is funding about 20 South Australians students to undertake training. They were drawn from the Italian community and, as part of their six-month course, had to polish their language skills.
South Australia has a handful of units catering for specific nationalities and some of the larger providers also have “clusters” of beds for different migrant groups.
