Multicultural Advisory Service
presents the 2015 Forum
Forever Young: Better Health and Wellbeing
for our Culturally Diverse Older Australians
Thursday 18 June, 2015
8.00am to 4.00pm
Cairns Convention Centre
The aim of the forum is to enhance professionals’ cultural
awareness and provide support to service providers,
community workers and health practitioners to deliver
culturally inclusive services and improve the health and
wellbeing of our Culturally Diverse Older Australians.
Registrations are now open
Diversicare is a division of Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland
5 May 2015
Dear Participants,
I would like to personally extend an invitation and welcome each of you to the Forever Young: Better
Health and Wellbeing for our Culturally Diverse Older Australians. Diversicare continues to grow, adapt
and remain responsive to the care needs of our Culturally Diverse Australians throughout Queensland.
We pride ourselves as being the premier organisation in Queensland by providing culturally appropriate
services to more than 1300 elderly people of Culturally Diverse backgrounds. Diversicare also provides
expert training, information and education sessions to service providers and communities as well as
hosting community events, expos, major forums, public displays and developing resources which are also
displayed on our website.
Due to the recent changes to aged care, introduced by the Australian Government, Diversicare, like many
other community based organisations, is confronted with many challenging yet exciting changes regarding aged and community care services. The Government is committed to providing a sustainable system
that supports older people, including all Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD), who need aged care.
Australia’s CALD population is ageing rapidly and our current aged care system needs to change to keep
up with future demand. These changes will see a new way of delivering care that will give older people
more choice, easier access and better care. It will also build a better and more sustainable aged care
system.
I would like to introduce to you what you can expect from the Forever Young: Better Health and Wellbeing for our Culturally Diverse Older Australians forum and what we hope to achieve by the end of the
day.
The aim of this forum, as outlined in our registration, is to enhance cultural awareness and provide
support to deliver culturally inclusive services.
We are fortunate to have the expertise of some great speakers who will share with us today their vision,
knowledge and experience to help us pave our way into cultural sensitivity and inclusiveness.
In closing I would like to thank the organiser, Mrs Marcela Fischer, for all her hard work and dedication to
improving the service delivery to people of Culturally Diverse backgrounds.
Finally, I would like to thank you for participating in our forum, providing us with your expertise, personal
experiences and knowledge.
Kind regards,
Vivienne McDonald
General Manager
About the Organiser
Marcela Fischer
Bachelor Degree in Sociology and Anthropology (Sweden and Australia)
Multicultural Advisor
Peninsula Region
Diversicare
I have been with Diversicare since 2011 and my role is to provide information to Culturally Diverse
communities to better navigate the Community Care Sector and link people to services. I also provide
FREE professional development for the community care sector to provide culturally inclusive services. I
travel through the Peninsula Region of Queensland from Tully to the Torres Strait Islands and
Georgetown.
“Information is Power”
As we age, many of us want to remain independent and in control of our lives and to do that we need to
be able to make informed choices regarding our care. Making informed decisions is essential for our
health and wellbeing.
Moreover, it is essential that services understand the importance for culturally inclusive services; being
able to identify the criteria of culturally inclusive services and assess the cultural inclusiveness of the
organisation and staff. A culturally responsive service has the capacity to respond to the issues and
include the needs of our culturally diverse population, at all levels of engagement.
Forum Information
Registration
Attendance to the Forever Young: Better Health and Wellbeing for our Culturally Diverse Older Australians forum
is at no cost to delegates, however registration is essential. Please complete and scan your registration form and
email to: [email protected] by no later than 5.00 p.m. Friday 12th June 2015. A confirmation
email to delegates will be sent within two (2) working days of receipt.
On arrival at the forum venue, please see the registration and information desk upstairs where you will receive an
information package. Diversicare Multicultural Advisor, Mrs Marcela Fischer will be there to assist with any queries
you may have throughout the day.
Venue
Cairns Convention Centre is situated on Sheridan Street, Cairns. Refer to the map below for its location. Disabled
access is available.
Parking
The Cairns Convention Centre has 239 undercover parking spaces including 7 identified disabled car park places.
Entrance to the car park is via Sheridan Street and the cost will be covered by Diversicare. Please keep the entry
parking ticket and, on arrival to the Centre, please give your ticket to Mrs Marcela Fischer at the registration desk
for reimbursement.
Catering
All catering for the forum will be provided by the venue free of charge to all delegates.
All dietary requirements, that is, vegan, vegetarian, halal, allergies such as dairy free, wheat free, can be catered
for; however, confirmation of your dietary requirements must be completed on the registration form which must
be received by us by the due date Friday 12th June 2015.
Cairns Convention Centre
Display Foyer
Information Display
We encourage you to bring your brochures as a display table will be provided. The opportunity to have a chat and
network will be given to all delegates during the breaks and also at the end of the day.
Program
8.00 am – 8.30 am
Registration
Mrs Marcela Fischer
Multicultural Advisor, Diversicare
8.30 am – 8.45 am
Conference Welcome
Mrs Vivienne McDonald
General Manager, Diversicare ECCQ
Mrs Marcela Fischer
Multicultural Advisor, Diversicare
8.45 am – 9.00 am
Welcome to Country
Mrs. Henrietta Marrie
Gimuy Walabarayindinji People
9.00 am – 9.45 am
9.45 am—10.45 am
A person-centred & differenceoriented model: An evaluation
of Diversity Education delivered
to community aged care
workers in Qld & Vic
Rowland Universal
Dementia Assessment Scale
(RUDAS)
Mrs. Thana Roysmith
Multicultural Advisor, Diversicare
Mrs. Jaklina Michael
Manager Diversity
Royal District Nursing Service, RDNS Koonung
Dr. Jeff Rowland
Director of Physician Education
Internal Medicine, TPCH
10.45 am– 11.00 am
Morning Tea
11.00 am – 12.00 pm
Diagnosing dementia in CALD
Australians
Dr. Federico Cavestany-Ricker
ECCQ CALD Chronic Disease
Program
Mrs. Hana Alraman
12.00 pm – 12.30pm
12.30 pm – 1.00 pm
Lunch
1.00 pm – 2.00 pm
Elder Abuse and Culturally and
Linguistic Diverse
Communities
2.00 pm – 2.45 pm
What will it take for refugees
and migrants with disability to
have equitable access to the
National Disability Insurance
Scheme
2.45 pm – 3.00 pm
Afternoon Tea
3.00pm – 4.00 pm
Engaging Consumers in CDC and
CHSP
Senior Staff Specialist Geriatric Medicine, Older Persons
Sub-acute and Rehabilitation (OPSAR), Cairns HHHS
Program Officer, Chronic Disease Program
Ethnic Communities Council of Qld (ECCQ)
Mr. Les Jackson
Coordinator, Elder Abuse Prevention Unit
Older Persons Programs, UnitingCare Community
Mrs. Lalita Lakshmi
Multicultural Engagement Worker (NDIS)
AMPARO Advocacy Inc
Mrs. Sarah Baker
Program Coordinator – Aged Care
Council on the Ageing (COTA)
Key Note Speakers
Mrs. Jaklina Michael
Manager Diversity
Royal District Nursing Service, RDNS Koonung
Jaklina Michael is a professional educator and public health professional. She has extensive experience in aged care, equity
and diversity from a population and public health perspective and is the author of the Diversity Conceptual Model. Jaklina
Michael is an equity advocate who continually looks for opportunities to influence the improvement of health and aged care
policy and practice to benefit individuals and population groups disadvantaged by their diversity. Jaklina’s role at RDNS
(Royal District Nursing Service) is Diversity Manager: working to provide options and solutions to the organisation to ensure
that systems and services are equitable and accessible to all people. RDNS provides a range of nursing and aged care services
across Australia, New Zealand and China.
Mrs. Thana Roysmith
Multicultural Advisor, Diversicare
Thana has professional qualifications in Education and Psychology. She has a passion for training and working within the
Mental Health and Multicultural sectors.
She currently works as a Multicultural Advisor with the Multicultural Advisory
Service in Diversicare providing cross cultural training to Community Care service providers and working with culturally and
linguistically diverse communities. Thana is originally from Singapore and has been living in Australia for 17 years.
Dr Jeff Rowland
Director of Physician Education
Internal Medicine, TPCH, Metro North Hospital and Health Service
Jeff Rowland is a geriatrician with over 25 years of clinical experience. He is currently working in Brisbane at The Prince
Charles Hospital. He has worked for over a decade in the south west of Sydney, a highly multicultural area. His research
interests have been mainly centred on dementia screening in this population. He has been the recipient of two grants, one
from the Dept. of Health (NSW) and the other from the Commonwealth Health Department, for research of a tool to
screen for dementia across cultures (the RUDAS). He completed the requirements for a Masters of Public Health at the
University of Queensland in 2006. Most recently, he finished his tenure as president of the Australian and New Zealand
Society for Geriatric Medicine (ANZSGM).
Key Note Speakers
continued
Dr Federico Cavestany-Ricker
Senior Staff Specialist Geriatric Medicine
OPSAR, Cairns HHHS
Federico Cavestany is a Spanish trained geriatrician with over 15 years of clinical experience. Before moving to Australia in
2008, he was the Clinical Director of Geriatric Services in a Geriatric Hospital south of Barcelona, with over 100 beds and multiple outpatient programs. His main interest are in dementia, delirium, management of elderly with hip fracture and community
and nursing home visits.
He is working in Cairns since 2011 within the Older Persons Health Service, mainly involved in care of subacute patients in
Cairns/Mareeba Hospitals and Memory Clinics in Cairns/Mareeba and Innisfail Hospitals. He is lucky for having being brought
up in 2 languages and cultures (Spanish and German), adding English language later in life; he can therefore understand the
complexities of working with CALD Australians
Mrs Hana Alraman
Chronic Disease Program
Ethnic Communities Council Qld
Hana Alraman works as a Chronic Disease Program Officer with the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland (ECCQ). She
joined ECCQ- CD program in early 2011. She also works as a project officer for Bone Health for the Arabic and Vietnamese
community with ECCQ- CD Program. Hana holds an overseas medical degree of Bachelor in medicine and surgery and worked
as a GP in her home country for more than 19 years.
Dr Les Jackson
Coordinator, Elder Abuse Prevention Unit Older Persons Programs
UnitingCare Community
Les Jackson has worked in the area of elder abuse prevention since 1998 and has provided significant input into the service
development of the New South Wales elder abuse response. Les has presented at various state and national conferences and
several international conferences including a presentation at the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
conference in Seoul Korea (June 2013). His presentations are always grounded in practice, backed by data and embedded
within the broader context of national and international initiatives.
Key Note Speakers
continued
Mrs Lalita Lakshmi
Multicultural Engagement Worker (NDIS)
AMPARO Advocacy Inc
Lalita Lakshmi is the Multicultural Engagement Worker (NDIS) with AMPARO Advocacy Inc. AMPARO Advocacy is a non-profit
community based organisation that undertakes individual and systemic advocacy on behalf of vulnerable people from nonEnglish speaking backgrounds.
AMPARO is currently working to both help inform CALD communities about the National
Disability Insurance Scheme, and raise awareness of their needs so they can be taken into account in its development in
Queensland. Lalita has worked in community sector for over the 20 years, and in that time her work has had a strong focus on
multicultural advocacy, cultural competency and community engagement. Lalita holds a Graduate Diploma in Community
Development and recently completed her Masters of Human Services.
Mrs Sarah Baker
Program Coordinator – Aged Care
Council on the Ageing (COTA)
Sarah Baker works at the Council on the Ageing (COTA) Queensland, where her knowledge of and passions for Stakeholder
Engagement, Wellness and Active Ageing are utilised to advance the rights and needs of older people as they age. She is working on a variety of projects, including the Consumer Directed Care (CDC) training for Peer Educators and Service Providers.
Sarah has extensive knowledge of service development, and the Aged Care Reforms. She has worked on several innovative
projects including utilising mobile technologies to develop a mobile Assessment workforce and has also delivered training to
Service Providers in Active and Healthy Ageing, Goal Directed Care Planning and Consumer Engagement.
Registration Form
FREE Professional Development Forum
Forever Young: Better Health and Wellbeing
for our Culturally Diverse Older Australians
Thursday 18 June, 2015
8.00am to 4.00pm
Cairns Convention Centre
Email completed registration form to:
[email protected]
Direct all enquiries to:
no later than 5.00 pm Friday 12th June 2015.
Mrs Marcela Fischer
Multicultural Advisor
Mobile 0432 322 154
Email: [email protected]
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Thank you for your registration