Abstract
Cultural and linguistic diversity between residents and staff is significant in residential aged care homes in Australia. Residents are from over 170 countries with 31% born overseas and 20% born in a non–English speaking country(AIHW 2016). Staff who care for residents are also from culturally and linguistically (CALD) diverse backgrounds. It is estimated that 32% of staff were born overseas and 26%were born in a non–English speaking country (Mavromaras et al. 2017). The majority of overseas-born residents come from Europe while the majority of overseas-born staff come from south Asian and African regions (AIHW 2016, Mavromaras et al. 2017). It is estimated that 88% of residential aged care homes employ staff from CALD backgrounds (Mavromaras et al. 2017). This is evidence that cross-cultural interactions widely exist in residential aged care homes. The diversity generates many opportunities for aged care organisations to address equitable and culturally appropriate care for residents. In the 2016 aged care workforce census, 39% of residential direct care workers reported they spoke a language other than English in their work (Mavromaras et al. 2017). This is an indicator that the cultural and linguistic assets of the workforce actually contribute to the residential aged care services in Australia. However, the diversity can also be a challenge to achieving high-quality care for residents and to staff cohesion.
This book introduces the multicultural workforce development (MCWD) model, relevant resources and examples to implement the model in residential aged care homes.
This book introduces the multicultural workforce development (MCWD) model, relevant resources and examples to implement the model in residential aged care homes.
Original language | English |
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Place of Publication | Adelaide, South Australia |
Publisher | Flinders University of South Australia |
Number of pages | 87 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781925562200 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781925562194 |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2017 |