THE MULTICULTURAL HEALTH POLICY UNIT IS Multicultural Health Matters A U T U M N 2 0 1 5 AVAILABLE TO ATTEND AND PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ANY TEAM MEETINGS Training Opportunities Under the ACT Health revised Essential Education Policy and Guidelines, training in a) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Awareness a n d b ) b r o a d e r Cultural Competence has been specified in the ‘highly recommended’ category. Staff members and their managers are required to discuss the listed training courses in this category to identify whether they are applicable to their job role. Training that is identified as applicable is to be noted in the Performance Plan. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Cultural Competence Cultural competence is the ability to work effectively with consumers (including carers) and colleagues from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, such as people born overseas, people who speak a language other than English at home, migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and their families. Some, but not all, people from CALD backgrounds have limited English proficiency (LEP). Reflecting on how culture To complement the face-to-face Cultural Competence Course offered by Staff Development, the Multicultural Health Policy Unit has developed an elearning package which will shortly become available through Capabiliti. The e-learning covers: Working with Interpreters Free face-to face training is now available, delivered by Companion House (see page 2). Through presentations, facilitated discussion, hand outs and case studies you will be able to identify when interpreters are needed, and how to book and conduct successful interpreting sessions. Remaining dates for the 90 minute session this year are: 13 May, 17 September and 10 December. Book through Capabiliti. Identifying reasons why ACT Health staff need to be culturally competent. Identifying your own culture, may impact on health outcomes. The package is designed to take no more than thirty minutes to complete Companion House 2 New on-line resources 2 For your diary 2 Navigating the health system 3 Multicultural Health Reference Group New TIS online booking service 3 The Unit has established a Reference Group with representation from: Health literacy course begins 4 Centre for 4 Culture, Ethnicity and Health ACT Medicare Local Canberra Multicultural Community Forum Carers ACT Companion House Health Care Consumers’ Association. Terms of Reference have been agreed and the role of the Group is to: values and beliefs. Reflecting on how culture may influence the way you interact with consumers and other staff. Consider issues related to health service provision to CALD and/or LEP consumers within ACT Health and across the ACT health system. Provide a forum to strengthen relationships, liaison and information sharing. Identify and promote opportunities for collaboration on initiatives In addition, an e-learning package on working with interpreters is being finalised and will be advertised when available. to improve the health outcomes of CALD and/or LEP consumers. Provide advice to the Unit on the implementation of Towards Culturally Appropriate and Inclusive Services – a Co-ordinating Framework for ACT Health (2014-18). The Group meets monthly at the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre. PAGE 2 Companion House Companion House was founded in 1989 to care for survivors of torture and trauma who have sought refuge in Australia. For its first eleven years Companion House was called Transact (Treatment and Rehabilitation and Network Service of the ACT). Companion House is at 41 Templeton St, Cook. Canberrans come from over 175 countries around the world, so our services must be able to respond to cultural diversity, remembering that our staff reflect this diversity. Companion House is part of the FASSTT (Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma) network, established in 1992. The Companion House Medical Service provides general practice and primary facilitated referrals to dental, allied health and specialists. health services for refugees in their first 12 months in Australia. Patients then continue to use the service until a community GP is found to refer to in their local area. Companion House reports that this process may take a little time due to Canberra's relative shortage of GPs. Companion House has provided valuable insights into the experience of their clients in accessing interpreters in the ACT health system and at Canberra Hospital and Health Services. The Medical Service is also used by asylum seekers and people from refugee backgrounds with complex needs. These insights have informed our efforts to increase interpreter use across the organisation and improve staff capacity to work effectively with interpreters. The service is committed to long GP consultations, bulk billing and interpreter use. The service provides Find out more about the work of Companion House at www.companionhouse.org.au New On-line Resources New Section on Health Internet The redesigned ACT Health internet site is now in operation. Many of the resources previously available only internally on the intranet are now available on the internet at www.health.act.gov/ multicultural. Community Profiles We are continuing to develop ACT specific community cultural profiles. The profiles are intended to assist you to better understand and appreciate possible cultural impacts on health in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. We have just added a new profile on Sudan to join the ones already available on Afghanistan, Burma, China, India, the Philippines, South Sudan and Sri Lanka. Work is underway for profiles for Iran, Iraq, and Vietnam. Please take care when using the profiles. They are intended for general guidance only. It is important to understand that there is great diversity and change within communities and people do not fit into a pre-determined and unchanging cultural ‘box’ or stereotype. The information presented will not apply to all people from a particular country or community. TIS Client Codes Need your TIS Client Code or ATIS Voice Account Number or Access Code? See “Interpreting Services” in the multicultural health section of the intranet. For your diary! 13-15 April Songkran - Thai New Year Thai communities across Australia celebrate this festival with food, crafts and entertainment. 13 April Sinhala and Tamil New Year The two main Sri Lankan ethnic groups, the Sinhalese and the Tamils, celebrate a common traditional New Year on this day. Sunday 14 - Saturday 20 June Refugee Week Celebrating the positive contributions made by refugees AUTUMN 2015 PAGE 3 Helping Navigate the Health System Availability and locations of services How to pay for services Asking for an interpreter Medicare, Centrelink and ACT Services Access Cards Questions to ask the doctor Tests, scans and specialists Rights and responsibilities when using Australian health services Useful contact numbers and websites. In addition, stand alone summaries of the most essential services have been produced: Which Health Service Do I Need? Information in English is presented on one side, and translated on the other side into key languages: Chinese (simple and traditional), Vietnamese, Arabic, Farsi, Korean and Karen. These resources are also available on both the intranet and the new internet site. The guide is adapted with permission from Northern Territory Medicare Local’s Health Services Information for New Arrivals. It is written in plain English and valuable comment and input was received through the Reference Group (see page 1) and from the ACT Chinese Aged Care Information and Referral Service. Although designed primarily for people from CALD backgrounds, it has been suggested that the guide will be useful for many in the ACT community. The Unit has developed a guide to help people, especially new arrivals from overseas, to choose the right health service when they are sick or injured. The Minister for Health, Simon Corbell, launched the guide at the Multicultural Festival on 15 February. The publication includes important information about: Which health service should be used for different health problems, including calling 000 in an emergency The initial print run of 1,000 copies is nearly exhausted after targeted distribution to a range of organisations working with people from CALD backgrounds, including providers of migrant English classes. A second print of 2,000 copies is in progress. Thus far over 600 copies have been pre-ordered. For copies of the handbook, contact Catherine Gray, on (02) 6205 4050 or [email protected] An electronic version is available on both the intranet and the new internet site. New TIS on-line service for on-site bookings All work areas with a TIS account are autoTIS Online is an automated booking request and allocation system which allows you to self matically registered to use TIS Online. manage on-site interpreter bookings online. Your TIS account administrator for your area Manage your bookings with visibility of should have received a TIS Online invitation email from TIS National which includes a link on-site interpreter requests and bookings, for you to log into the account and start invitallowing you to view and make updates ing other administrators and individual users quickly and easily. to use the account. Keep informed with automatic notifica- If you are the administrator for your area’s tions by email or SMS as the status of your TIS account and you did not receive a welbookings change. come invitation email, please contact the TIS Online Support team (call 1300 655 082 or Quickly secure an interpreter in the shortest possible time frame while ensuring email [email protected]). you receive the highest credentialed inter- More information about TIS Online, including preter available. some useful videos and support resources, is available from the TIS Online section of the Stay connected. TIS Online works on web site: www.tisnational.gov.au. mobile devices, allowing you to manage your bookings anywhere, anytime. Easily update your details and invite other staff members to use the account. Please note this new service applies only to bookings for on-site interpreters. Health literacy development course has begun Participants in the health literacy development course with a focus on cultural and linguistic diversity advertised last year attended the first workshop on 4 March. participating organisations and contributes to the body of knowledge and experience of health literacy in Australia. Course structure The participants come from both clinical and non-clinical areas, and three work in community organisations. The Course has been modified for ACT Health and is designed to build the capacity of the organisation to respond to health literacy We gratefully acknowledge the additional with a focus on cultural and linguistic funding provided by the Director General, Dr diversity, at both a client and an organisational Peggy Brown, and Ross O’Donoughue, level. Executive Director of the Policy and The course duration is 8 months, with 4 fullGovernment Relations Branch. Without this day workshops held bi-monthly. To maximise support, the course could not have the learning opportunities at each module, proceeded. participants are required to complete Background Health literacy is a national health policy priority and has the potential to improve the health outcomes across the Australian population, and particularly for the most disadvantaged population groups. preparation tasks prior to each workshop that establish a foundational understanding of core concepts. Following modules 1, 2 and 3, participants undertake a small project of approximately 40 hours within their work areas. The purpose There is currently a significant commitment to of the projects is to integrate health literacy improve health literacy practice across health practice to embed learnings and create sustainable change. A CEH staff member will and human services in Australia. However, the requisite understanding of health literacy support participants by telephone or email throughout the course and in the strategies and professional practice are, to development and implementation of their date, limited. projects. The Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health Embedding health literacy in the (CEH) in Victoria has developed the Health Literacy Development Course to assist health organisation. and community services to implement health The experience of CEH in delivering the literacy principles within their organisations. course is that the participants can assist drive organisational change, but this can only The training program is informed by happen with the support and commitment of international best practice on health literacy senior management. as well as local health sector development, including CEH’s 20 years’ experience delivering specialist training for health and human service organisations. The course addresses limited health literacy understanding and practice locally by building agencies’ capacity to respond to health literacy at both the client and organisational levels. External evaluation has indicated that the course delivers meaningful outcomes for Thanks! Towards the conclusion of the course there is an additional three-hour Executives and Participants Forum. At this meeting the participants will give short presentations on the projects they have undertaken. CEH facilitators then guide discussion with Executives about strategies to embed good health literacy practice, particularly in relation to risk management, safety and quality and the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards. CEH grew out of North Richmond Community Health Limited, which provides medical, dentistry, counselling, cultural and allied health services to the communities of the City of Yarra. Since its inception in 1974, North Richmond Community Health Limited has constantly tailored its services to meet the changing needs of a very culturally diverse location. Staff at North Richmond soon came to understand how culture and ethnicity impact on the way people understand health and wellbeing, and the way they access health services. As a result, North Richmond has maintained an outstanding reputation for delivering culturally competent service. In 1994, North Richmond received funding from the Victorian Department of Human Services to share its learnings across the state, and the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health was formed. The CEH offers training programs at North Richmond, across Victoria and interstate. For their training calendar, visit their website. The site also provides access to a range of useful resources on cultural competence and diversity. www.ceh.org.au The Canberra Hospital Foundation recently provided funding for the purchase of a number of books in a range of languages other than English. The books are available for patients and visitors through the Canberra Hospital Auxiliary Library.
© Copyright 2024