ECCV’s Recognising and Respecting Carers from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds project supports carer groups across Melbourne by delivering information sessions and activities that provide much-needed respite.
Members of the Al-Emaan Muslim Women’s Support Group, including carers and care recipients, were treated to a day at the Tesselaar Tulip Festival in Silvan.
ECCV has been working with senior carers’ support groups to provide information about accessing carer services and resources, and help identify “hidden” unpaid carers within CALD communities who are not aware of available support services.
The Recognising and Respecting Carers from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds project focuses on building the capacity of carers and raising awareness of elder abuse within care relationships.
Run in partnership with Carers Victoria, with funding from the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, the project is informed by the Victorian Carer Strategy 2018-22.
Since February, the project team has been delivering information sessions and workshops to educate and engage carers on a range of relevant issues, such as digital literacy, first aid, and seniors legal rights and elder abuse prevention.
Sessions and activities are tailored to suit the needs of each carers’ group, and are run in partnership with relevant community organisations or subject matter experts.
Elder abuse sessions cover sensitive issues around elder abuse in the carer and care recipient relationship, raising awareness of the forms elder abuse can take, and increasing the confidence of participants to report abuse if they see it happening or experience it themselves.
Participants include the Arabic Women Seniors Group based in Dandenong, the Northern Chinese Carers Social Support Group based in Preston, and the Southeast Chinese Carers Social Support Group based in Springvale.
The program also recently began collaborating with Australian Multicultural Community Services (AMCS) to support social activities that provide carers with much-needed respite, strengthen social connections and maintain their wellbeing.
This includes upcoming day trips to Peninsula Hot Springs and other regional attractions where they can connect with nature and unwind.
In September, members of the Al-Emaan Muslim Women’s Support Group, including carers and care recipients, were treated to a day at the Tesselaar Tulip Festival in Silvan. The excursion was a great opportunity to relax, socialise and enjoy the festival in a supportive environment.
This followed a recent self-care session held for Al-Emaan group members, run by a Carers Victoria Community Educator, who spoke about the importance of caring for oneself as a carer.
The session led participants through a number of small activities they can do to take care of themselves, such as low-impact exercises, and meditation.
Carers Victoria will also help build the capacity of carer support group leaders through workshops on governance matters and how to run their groups.
Through this partnership, the project is raising awareness in mainstream organisations of the cultural values and issues concerning carers from culturally diverse backgrounds, including identifying service gaps.
If your carers group would like to get involved in the project, visit eccv.org.au/supporting-senior-carers.
This article was published in the
Spring 2022 edition of Golden Years.