Communication Cards and Aged Care Signage are now available in four new languages – Urdu, Hebrew, Sinhalese and Gaelic – bringing to 61 the number of languages that are now available in these excellent resources.
The resources have been developed to help aged care providers deliver culturally appropriate care to people from CALD communities, by the Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing, part of the PICAC alliance in Victoria.
All languages are free to download from the centre’s website.
Communication Cards depict a wide range of daily activities and situations in aged care and can be used to prompt discussion, assist with directions, clarify a client’s needs, etc.
They cover a wide variety of themes including meals, personal care, feelings, pain, lifestyle, medical staff and family.
Aged Care Signage is designed to help residents in aged care facilities navigate their way around their home or service and aims to minimise confusion.
The signs include words and phrases such as ‘kitchen’, ‘dining room’, ‘keep out’, ‘danger’ and ‘this way to the garden’.
It’s also important to consider that the preferred language for some people in aged care homes may be Auslan.
To support how those in our sector communicate with people who are deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing, the department funds Auslan Connections to provide free sign language interpreting services to aged care service providers.
These services can be used to help clients engage with and take part in their aged care services.
More information is available on the Department of Health website.
Displaying information in language, and supporting the use of interpreting services, is a foundational action in the diversity action to support older CALD people, a guide for aged care providers.
Communicating with consumers in a way that is clear, easy to understand and enables them to exercise choice, demonstrates a culture of inclusion and respect which is central to Standard 1 in the Aged Care Quality Standards.
