Growing sector needs culturally diverse workforce

More than 250 delegates from a range of sectors will converge in Melbourne next month to discuss how aged care services can be more inclusive of other cultures.

The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing Conference will host around 50 presentations that highlight better practice initiatives to improve the lives of older Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.  

Centre for Cultural Diversity manager Ljubica Petrov said aged care providers need to find ways to address the individual’s needs without referring to their ethnicity.

“Saying someone is Greek, for example, does not explain what that person’s needs might be and how to cater to those needs,” Ms Petrov said.

“So what we advocate is for service providers to build in practices that address diversity from the onset.

“They need to be looking at their potential client base as well as their current client base.”

Flinders University School of Social and Policy Studies associate professor Debra King will share her research on the National Aged Care Workforce Census and Survey (2012) to instruct better management of a culturally diverse aged care workforce.

Dr King said worker demand is not being met by the local supply, so we need migrants to fill the gap.

“Previously there was a push towards matching migrant workers with clients in terms of language and cultural background, but what you find now is an increasing number of migrants in generic aged care,” she said.

Dr King said migrants have higher levels of satisfaction than generic workers, but do occasionally face discrimination from clients.

“As people get older they can revert back to previously held ideas, especially those with psycho-geriatric problems like dementia,” she said.

“Managers need to take discrimination very seriously.

“Some migrant groups might be reluctant to go to their managers about discrimination so it’s important to make sure those cultural hesitancies are addressed.”

Dr King said can organizations can implement cultural training with their client groups, with enjoyable events like an Indian Lunch Day, for example.

She said one of the challenges managers face at the moment is having as many as five or six different migrant groups under the same banner of employment.

“Each culture has different rules about when to smile or be submissive.

“We need to help workers understand what care looks like in an Australian context.”

Dr King said education and training in aged care needs to find a way to help workers understand the emotional and social needs of older people, which would benefit local workers as well as migrants.

“You can train someone how to wash a client or give an injection, but in fact getting a person in the shower requires very good social and emotional skills.”

“This is going to become increasingly important as the industry moves towards consumer-directed care.”

Dr King said that a successful culturally diverse workforce needs to begin at the induction and orientation level, with support services available if they need.

“We need a bigger focus of the migrant workforce because they have a lot to offer; they are young, educated and keen.

“We need to enable migrants to have a career within aged care.”

The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing Conference takes place over two days from June 12 at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

Register here to attend.

Image: Associate Professor Debra King. CONTRIBUTED.