A new radio-based campaign to inform older Australians from culturally diverse backgrounds of the latest in aged care information has been launched with the support of the Department of Health.
Minister for Aged Care, Ken Wyatt said Speak My Language would play a crucial role in keeping multicultural communities up to date by providing the latest aged care information in languages they understood and were comfortable with.
“We owe our older Australians an inclusive aged care system, one that embraces diversity,” Mr Wyatt said.
“Talking about aged care and navigating the aged care system can be daunting for older Australians and their families, particularly those from diverse backgrounds.”
He said the project would engage 160 bilingual aged care facilitators and ethnic radio programs across NSW, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT.
“More than 1,000 people’s stories will be broadcast live and podcast to promote ageing well,” Mr Wyatt said.
He said the first broadcasts would be in Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Serbian, Macedonian, Hindi, Arabic and English, with this building to include up to 25 language groups.
“The project also includes online and social media resources, and links aged care providers offering services for ethnic groups with radio hosts to build understanding of the sector,” the Minister said.