No images? Click here Multicultural Program Updateimage: Wan Word Inc Event Welcome to The Cancer Institute's Refugee Week Multicultural Program Update - a special edition to honor of Refugee Week, a nationally celebrated week coordinated by the RCOA (Refugee Council of Australia). Tuesday 20th June was World Refugee Day, a day initiated by the United Nations to honour refugees globally and celebrate the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their country due to persecution and conflict. It is a time to acknowledge the many contributions that people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds bring to Australia, and acknowledge their strength and resilience. It also prompts service providers to reflect on how they support these community members. As part of Refugee Week, The Cancer Institute NSW would like to highlight the Medicare Ineligible Asylum Seekers - Provision of Specified Public Health Services NSW Health Policy. The policy allows eligible asylum seekers without Medicare, who have no other means of financial support, to access a fee waiver for reasonable and essential health care. Urgent clinical treatment for anyone presenting to a NSW health service should not be delayed while their status and eligibility are being determined. The fee waiver applies (but is not limited to) to the following NSW public health services: - emergency care for acute medical and surgical conditions, including admission The policy also supports access to cancer screening and treatment. Information for Local Health District staff: Services for people seeking asylum who do not have a Medicare Card provides a summary of the policy. You can also contact NSW Refugee Health Service on (02) 9794 0770 for support or clarification on the policy. Marking World Refugee DayThe Cancer Institute NSW celebrated World Refugee Day by hosting an Institute event where we heard the plight of George Najarian (or “Ginger George”), an Armenian man who fled Aleppo, Syria, with his family. George’s unwavering hope, determination and resilience shone through as he shared his story of finding safety, love, education, and a rewarding career in Australia. A staff member also shared their personal story about their family’s perilous journey from Iran in the 1980s. Project updatesRefugee Cancer Screening ProjectThe Refugee Cancer Screening Project is proudly funded by the NSW Government through the Refugee Health Flexible Fund 2021-22 to 2022-23. It aims to improve cancer screening awareness in refugee communities from the Middle East and Sub-Sahara Africa through capacity-building, research, and community engagement. The Cancer Institute NSW has partnered with Settlement Council of Australia, NSW Refugee Health Service, Metro Assist, NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS), Northern Settlement Services Limited, and Mosaic Multicultural Connections to implement the project. Seventeen community consultations with 161 people across seven metro and regional sites in NSW have been held as part of this project. This uncovered several barriers – including systemic and cultural barriers – impacting communities’ participation in breast cancer screening, bowel cancer screening, and cervical screening. The Institute and partners have been engaging Middle Eastern and Sub-Saharan refugee communities to improve their knowledge of, and participation in cancer screening through strategies identified by these communities including: culturally appropriate events, group tours, community champion training, in-language media articles, and in-language resource development. Training bilingual community educators and cultural support workersThe Institute recently provided training for more than 35 bilingual community educators (BCEs) and cultural support workers (CSWs) from the NSW Refugee Health Service, South Western Sydney Local Health District (LHD) Multicultural Services, Western Sydney LHD Multicultural Health Service, and Sydney LHD Diversity Programs & Strategy Hub on national programs of breast, cervical and bowel cancer screening, and healthy modifiable behaviours to prevent cancer. The training equipped these BCEs and CSWs to deliver community education sessions to their communities, with an aim to increase uptake of cancer screening and prevention programs. Professional development opportunitiesRefugee Camp in my NeighborhoodBook Now: Tuesday 27 July & Tuesday 4 August: Refugee Camp in My Neighbourhood is a simulated refugee camp experience where participants can better understand 'lived experience' from a range of refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, and NSW Refugee Health staff. Book here to attend a health-specific tour. My Health Learning: meeting the healthcare needs of refugeesEnrol Now: The My Health Learning module Meeting the healthcare needs of Refugees (Course Code: 116308950) is available to all NSW Health staff. It provides information about challenges faced by people from refugee backgrounds when accessing healthcare services. Understanding their background and journey can give all healthcare professionals a greater understanding of how to provide best-practice healthcare. Multilingual resourcesResources in languages spoken by refugee and asylum seeking communitiesThe NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service (MHCS) hosts a number of translated resources, including resources developed by the Cancer Institute NSW in languages spoken by refugee communities. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Institute multilingual directory is a repository for translated resources on cancer-related issues, including videos, factsheets, flipcharts and webpages. Resources are available in a number of languages, including Arabic, Assyrian, Burmese, Dari, Dinka, Farsi, Hazaragi, Kurdish Kurmanji, Pashto, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Tamil, Tibetan, Ukrainian, Urdu. The directory will be updated regularly as we develop new resources. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The NSW Refugee Health Service has recently updated the NSW Health Care System Information Booklet. This describes key health services in Australia and details about how to call an ambulance, what Medicare can be used for, how to get medications in Australia, and how to see a specialist. It is available in a number of languages spoken by people of refugee and asylum seeking background. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Advice to people seeking asylum without Medicare is available in English, Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Simplified Chinese and Tamil. Resources for workforce The NSW Refugee Health Plan - 2022-2027 is part of NSW Health’s commitment to meeting the healthcare needs of people of refugee backgrounds. It outlines approaches for provision of culturally responsive, trauma-informed care, and a strengths-based approach to supporting people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds to lead healthy lives. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MHCS developed and launched Best practice guide for NSW Health Staff: Developing health resources for people from refugee backgrounds on World Refugee Day. It aims to support NSW health services and programs to implement best practice when developing health resources to meet the needs of people from refugee, refugee-like and asylum seeker backgrounds. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards provide information about the level of care consumers can expect from health service organisations. NSQHS has a User guide for health service organisations providing care for patients from migrant and refugee backgrounds, which aims to support health service organisations to implement the NSQHS Standards and provide safe and high-quality care that meets the needs of people from migrant and refugee backgrounds. This email was brought to you from Cammeryagal country We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which the Cancer Institute NSW offices reside on, the Cammeraygal (Gammaraygal) people.
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