The Growing Need for Multilingual Home Care Services

Figure 1 Data sourced from ABS (2023b) & Parliament of Australia (2017) * 2020s data available until 2023

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Linguistic Diversity and Home Care Preferences

Paul Sadler points out that meeting the needs of diverse communities is core to the proposed enhanced Aged Care Quality Standards. “Understanding and valuing the older person’s culture, diversity and beliefs is central to person-centred care, the first outcome of the revised Standards.”

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Research has shown that many individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds have a preference for services that will allow families to keep their relatives at home, for safety as well as cultural reasons, and they are particularly reluctant to use residential care (Shanley et al., 2012).

 

Many CALD communities place a strong emphasis on respect for elders and view caring for ageing family members at home as an important cultural value (FECCA, nd.). This perspective often leads to a preference for home-based care over residential aged care facilities for people from multicultural communities. The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia note that "A large proportion of older people from CALD backgrounds have limited English language proficiency due to limited exposure to formal English language education. Some people may revert to their first language as they age" (FECCA, nd.).

 

This linguistic barrier, combined with the cultural value of caring for elders within the family home, contributes to the desire among many CALD communities to receive aged care services in their own homes rather than in institutional settings.

 

This preference for home care among CALD communities further highlights the need for a multilingual workforce capable of delivering high-quality, culturally appropriate services in a home setting. If the workforce is not capable of delivering culturally appropriate services, this need may lead to miscommunication, misunderstanding of cultural preferences, and ultimately, a lower quality of care for individuals from CALD communities.

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Solutions: Planning for a Multilingual Home Care Workforce

To meet the growing demand for multilingual home care services, providers need to take a strategic approach to workforce planning. This includes:

1. Use available data to align recruitment of staff to clients’ needs: Home care providers can use publicly available data, as well as their internal client insights to better understand their clients, and align these demographics to their internal staffing demographics to ensure a spread of cultural and linguistic skill-sets that meet their clients needs.

2. Utilise visas to attract quality international staff to increase linguistic diversity: The employment of international staff on visas can help bridge the gap in multilingual home care workers. These individuals bring valuable language skills and cultural competencies that can enhance the quality of care provided to CALD clients.

3. Language training and cultural competency programs: Existing home care staff should have access and be incentivised to undertake language and cultural competency training to better understand and communicate with CALD clients. This can include language classes, cultural awareness workshops, non-verbal communication training and ongoing professional development opportunities.

4. Collaboration with community organisations: Home care providers can collaborate with community organisations, ethnic associations, and religious groups to better understand the specific needs and preferences of CALD communities. This can inform the development of culturally appropriate care plans and the recruitment of staff with relevant language skills.

 

Embracing Technology for Language Support

In addition to workforce planning, home care providers can explore technological solutions to support multilingual service delivery. For example, the use of translation apps, video interpreting services, and multilingual educational materials can help bridge language gaps and improve communication with CALD clients and their families.

 

However, it is important to note that technology is a complementary tool and won’t replace a culturally competent and linguistically diverse workforce. Personal interactions and the ability to understand cultural nuances are crucial in providing high-quality, person-centred care.

 

Next Steps

As Australia's population continues to diversify, the need for culturally and linguistically appropriate home care services will only increase. Providers should be prioritising workforce planning, with an emphasis on attracting quality multilingual talent from abroad, whilst also partnering with community organisations who can help them understand and implement culturally sensitive care plans. By doing this, Home Care providers ensure that individuals from CALD backgrounds receive the high-quality care they deserve, while respecting their cultural preferences and linguistic needs.

 

Written by WRK4CE, in collaboration with Paul Sadler, published on 8 May 2024

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Reference list:

• ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2022) “Population: Census - Information on sex and age”, available at <https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/population-census/latest-release>. 

• ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2023a) “Australia's Population by Country of Birth”, available at <https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/australias-population-country-birth/latest-release>. 

• ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2023b), “Overseas Migration: Statistics on Australia's international migration, by state and territory, country of birth, visa, age and sex”, available at <https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/overseas-migration/2022-23-financial-year>. 

• AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2023) “Culturally and linguistically diverse older people”, available at <https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/older-people/older-australians/contents/population-groups-of-interest/culturally-linguistically-diverse-people>.

• FECCA (Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia) (nd.) “Aging and aged care” available at <https://fecca.org.au/wwd/ageing-and-aged-care/>.

• GEN Aged Care Data (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2023) “Providers, services and places in aged care”, available at <https://www.gen-agedcaredata.gov.au/topics/providers,-services-and-places-in-aged-care#Services_and_places_over_time>.

• KPMG (2022) “Aged care market analysis 2022”, available at <https://kpmg.com/au/en/home/insights/2022/09/aged-care-market-analysis.html>.

• Mah JC, Stevens SJ, Keefe JM, Rockwood K, Andrew MK (2021) “Social factors influencing utilization of home care in community-dwelling older adults: a scoping review” BMC Geriatrics 21, 145. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-021-02069-1.

• National Seniors Australia (2023) “Aged care homes are now even more expensive” (27 April 2023, National Seniors Australia), available at <https://nationalseniors.com.au/news/finance/aged-care-homes-are-now-even-more-expensive>.

• Parliament of Australia (2017) “Migration to Australia: a quick guide to the statistics”, available at <https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1617/Quick_Guides/MigrationStatistics>. 

• Shanley C, Boughtwood D, Adams J, Santalucia Y, Kyriazopoulos H, Pond D, Rowland J (2012) “A qualitative study into the use of formal services for dementia by carers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities” BMC Health Services Research 12, 354. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-12-354.

• The Weekly Source, Group Editor (2023) “Risk and reward” (14 June 2023, Issue 54, The Weekly Source), available at <https://www.theweeklysource.com.au/issue-54/risk-and-reward>.