Cultural and linguistic diversity issues (Non-English speaking background)
Since World War II, 5.6 million immigrants have made Australia their home, only 46% of whom have been Anglo-Celts. The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006 Census Report reports more than 250 different ancestries, with 28% of the population selecting two ancestries. Although almost 400 different languages are spoken in homes across Australia, and 79% of Australia's population speak only English at home.
Multicultural policies have been adopted by local, state and commonwealth governments since the 1970s to ensure that all Australians are treated justly and equally regardless of their race and ethnicity. This has included the health care system, where acknowledging the needs of those who come from a different background and / or speak another language is considered paramount.
Issues common to those from a different culture
There are a range of issues to be considered when looking after patients from culturally diverse backgrounds. Understanding what palliative care is can be difficult. Some of these issues are summarised within the Mapcare project's Special Needs pages. The Multicultural Palliative Care Guidelines from the Palliative Care Council of SA may be helpful, as well as information on palliative care from the Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing. The Ian Anderson Continuing Education Program in End-of-Life care has a module and PowerPoint slides on cultural issues.
Family and community support
Many patients from culturally diverse groups will have strong family support which often also extends to extensive community support. Families can sometimes be protective towards patients, reluctant to let them know what is happening for fear of them ‘giving up’. This can be especially true when interpreting, with family members filtering the information to the patient to protect them.
It is always recommended to get official interpreters to interpret information. The patient may wish to talk confidentially with the healthcare team, or the family member may have difficulty talking about sensitive or private information or potentially breaking bad news.
Information in different languages
State services
The Victorian Government has developed a Health translations directory. There is also a tool whereby you can create a poster which gives the phrase “ I speak…..” – you can choose which language to put on the poster determined according to local need. This will enable patients to highlight that they are from a non-english speaking background.
If there is information that you would like translated into other languages, Queensland Health provides the following resources:
The NSW Community Relations Commission has a Language Link website where translators and interpreters can be located.
The Tasmanian government has a Translating and Interpreting Service as do South Australia.
The Northern Territory government Department of the Chief Minister has an Interpreting and Translating Service,and Western Australia has a Language Services Policy, as well as a document on working with interpreters
Resources
This page was created on 10 May 2008 and is due for review in May 2010