Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care (PICAC) Queensland respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands where we work and live.  We pay our respects to First Nations Elders past, present and emerging.

PICAC Connections Newsletter - Spring 2022​​​​​​

Welcome to the Spring edition of PICAC Connections. In this edition you’ll find:

• Welcome
• Have your say because aged care matters
• Stay up to date with aged care reforms and other initiatives 
• Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing: Residential Aged Care – tell us your research priorities 
• Senior's Month - Singing for Health and Harmony
• Resources - Palliative Care Australia
• Resources - Moving Pictures
• Resources - COVID-19 Translated Resource Pack
• Resources - New Advance Care Planning video series
• Resources - Reporting on the health of culturally and linguistically diverse populations in Australia An exploratory paper 

Welcome

Dear PICAC QLD subscribers, 

Welcome to our new look newsletter. Our program sits within Ethnic Communities Council Queensland (ECCQ) and to strengthen our presence, we are developing a more collaborative approach.

Multicultural Advisory Service and PICAC QLD are delivering two face to face, no-cost forums to aged and community care services. 

On Tuesday 15 November, we are holding a half day Multicultural End of Life forum at the Robina Community Space on the Gold Coast and on Wednesday 23 November, we are holding a separate forum on Delivering Cultural Appropriate Care in Logan. Please see the below flyers for more information. Registration is via Humanitix (links below). 

Contact us picac@diversicare.com.au for no-cost training and webinar on how to improve cultural practice including accessing and engaging interpreters and requesting document translations in your aged care service.

Have your say because aged care matters. Public Consultation Open: 17 October - 25 November

The Department of Health and Aged Care is conducting an urgent review of the Aged Care Quality Standards, as recommended by the Royal Commission, and is seeking feedback on a new, strengthened version of the standards. 

The Quality Standards provide a shared understanding of what is expected in aged care, and are a valuable resource for older Australians, their families, providers and staff alike. 

Find out more about the revised Quality Standards, register for online focus groups or complete the survey. 

Stay up to date with aged care reforms and other initiatives

If you work or have an interest in the aged care sector, please subscribe to the Department of Health and Aged Care newsletters and alerts to stay up to date with changes. 
 
Please share the newsletter with your networks, and encourage them to subscribe. You can also visit the Engagement Hub to get involved in the aged care reforms.

Aged care service providers can now access free interpreting with TIS and free written translation with LOTE Agency or ICON to help break down those language barriers.

Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing: Residential Aged Care – tell us your research priorities 

Our partners in Victoria are working with researchers from the National Centre for Healthy Ageing (NCHA) Residential Aged Care Research Network (RACReN), want to hear what you think are the most important areas to research in residential aged care. 
 
This information will be shared with aged care researchers to make sure they are researching what matters most to everyone involved in residential aged care. 
 
They want to hear from you if you: 

• Have a family member or friend that is living, or has lived, in a residential aged care home; 
• Live in a residential aged care home; OR 
• Work in a residential aged care home. 

Participation involves completing 2-3 short surveys (10-30 minutes) over the next few months. 
  
If you have any questions regarding this survey or need support to complete it, contact lead researcher Dr Katrina Long or RACReN Project Manager, Tracy McNeair at ncha.racren@monash.edu or on 03 9905 0504. 

Senior’s Month – Singing for Health and Harmony

We all know that singing is good for the emotional and physical health for people of all ages. Singing songs from childhood and home can be particularly nostalgic and comforting for the elderly. The power of singing for reminiscence and unity was underscored for us in October, when PICAC Qld held a Seniors Month event for the Vietnamese community in Inala.  Fifty Seniors joined together to sing along with two performers, well known in the local community. Even though the Seniors were mostly born in Vietnam, they were diverse in their religious, educational, socio-economic, and refugee or migrant backgrounds. Singing in unison helped to overcome divisions and reinforced social bonds, memories of homeland, and sense of cultural pride. The event was so successful that we’re encouraged to host an annual ‘sing fest’. It’s a valuable reminder that such a simple activity can have a powerful effect, especially for Seniors. 

Resources - Palliative Care Australia

Multicultural communities across Australia are being invited to start a conversation about palliative care to break down some of the misconceptions and raise awareness of the services available.

Palliative Care Australia has recently launched stage 2 of the ‘More Than You Think’ campaign with the aim of helping people with those challenging but potentially powerful moments connected to the end of life.

The campaign features locally available printed information in 11 languages.

Resources - Moving Pictures

One of the films developed as part of the Moving Pictures project - Dementia; a democratic disease - is now available on ABC iview in recognition of Dementia Action Week 2022.  

If you want to learn more about the Moving Pictures project visit the link below.

Resources - COVID-19 Translated Resource Pack

Developed by the Federal Department of Health and Aged Care updated COVID-19 information in your language.  

Resources - New Advance Care Planning video series 

A new series of new captioned videos featuring Vietnamese, Arabic and Turkish community members talk about their own advance care planning experiences.  
 
The videos are funded by COORDINARE – South Eastern NSW PHN – and are a collaboration with Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra (MCCI) and Beyond Empathy with ACPA’s support.   
 
Build your understanding of cultural sensitivities with these new videos 
Access other translated resources in 18 languages   

Resources - Reporting on the health of culturally and linguistically diverse populations in Australia An exploratory paper 

This report, released in August 2022 explores the use of linked data to report on the health of CALD populations, including its benefits, challenges and limitations. It investigates each of the available CALD variables individually, using 3 health outcomes to explore differences between CALD groups within each CALD variable.