ADEC Newsletter
Winter 1999
A Bi-annual Publication of
Action on Disability within Ethnic Communities (ADEC)
Patron: His Excellency Sir James Gobbo
13 Munro Street,
Coburg 3058 Vic
Australia.
Telephone (03) 9383 5566
Fax (03) 9383 5185
E-mail: info@adec.org.au
IN THIS EDITION:
Top
The Spring edition of the ADEC newsletter provides readers with information about the various projects and activities ADEC has been involved in over the last six months.
As can be seen from the content of the newsletter ADEC has been busy implementing a range of projects and activities that have extended our reach and innovation as a service.
Our two new programs, the Victorian Home & Community Care Cultural Planning Program and the Program Development and Access Program (Northern Metropolitan Region) have allowed us to facilitate ordered change processes within HACC funded services that will result in many agency specific initiatives to improve ethnic access to services.
Our Psychiatric Ethnic Access Program has undertaken some important research and systems advocacy with regard to interpreter access by Psychiatric Disability Support Services. This program has also been working with a number of ethnic communities in order to provide community education about Psychiatric issues.
Our internet development is progressing with work on three specific sites occurring at the moment. The " Babel" tree - a searchable data base of community language information; the ADEC corporate site and a newly developed HACC ethnic site.
Our direct service programs have also been extremely busy over the previous six months. Statistics for the 1998/99 financial period indicate that ADEC has worked with over two hundred consumers over the last year, responding to over 1,000 separate requests for individual advocacy support. Thirty two ethnic communities are represented in our individual advocacy data comprising older established communities e.g. Greek, Italian, and newer communities e.g. Bosnian, Somalian.
Our marketing plans targeted the Southern and Eastern Metropolitan regions for the purpose of individual advocacy work. To this end, these two regions now comprise 20% of all individual advocacy clients who have used ADEC services over the last 12 months. This is nearly double the utilisation rates from these regions compared to previous years.
We have seen a steady increase in advocacy required to assist people in their dealing with public housing providers, supported residential services and other accommodation providers. Our advocacy on behalf of consumers dealing with such services now comprises over I I% of all I our individual advocacy and involves negotiating public housing and/or ancillary services to support consumers in their homes.
Our regular support groups (Italian, Turkish, Vietnamese and Arabic) continue to meet monthly with over sixty people regularly attending the groups.
Our systems advocacy activities have also been significant over the previous year. ADEC is represented on the Ministerial Multicultural Human Services Council, the Quality Issues Reference Committee and the National Ethnic Disability Alliance. In this capacity we have sought to represent the interests of our constituency, as these are presented to us by ADEC consumers.
I hope that you find this newsletter informative. If you have any questions about the content or the work of ADEC please do not hesitate to ring me on 03 9383 5566.
Gabriel Maligeorges.
Top
The role of the ADEC Psychiatric Ethnic Access program is to promote and generate culturally responsive service strategies to mental health service providers. Whilst service development initiatives such as research, consultancy and training are integral to the program so are community education strategies which produce culturally relevant mental health resources and information for people of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Presenting mental health information to people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds is a challenging and fulfiling community development exercise and involves the collaborative efforts of many committed individuals. Some previous community education strategies have involved the development of multilingual mental health pamphlets and audiotapes, targeting specific communities and presenting mental health information via community forums, radio and print media campaigns.
The Psychiatric Ethnic Access Program systematically identifies two or more non English speaking background communities annually. Preliminary research is undertaken in order to ascertain which communities should be targeted based on population demographics, utilisation of mental health services, migration patterns and other issues pertaining to mental health.
In 1999, the target communities selected were the Chinese, Vietnamese and the Russian speaking communities. The Chinese and Vietnamese communities were selected as both communities have been reported to underutilise mental health services in Victoria and mental illness is also reported to be highly stigmatised within these two communities.
Forum on Mental Health Issues in the Chinese Speaking Community
An information forum for community workers in the Chinese community was held on March 30 this year. It was organised by ADEC, North Western Health, the Eastern Area Mental Health Services and the Chinese Community Social Services Centre.
The forum covered information on the level of mental health service utilisation by the Chinese community. Dr Ernest Luk from Maroondah Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, spoke of the major mental disorders and treatment, comparing Chinese views of mental illness with the Western model. Additional information was provided about the range of mental health services available and of points of referral.
Finally an interactive session was held which identified issues of access within the Chinese community. These included the highly stigmatised way in which mental illness is viewed within the community and the impact of this on help seeking behaviour. It was stated that there is onus on the family to look after the ill family member and that the stigma has ramifications for families. The importance of educating the Chinese speaking community about mental health issues was discussed and has resulted in the forum organisers working with the Chinese community to provide information on ethnic radio and in the Chinese press.
Vietnamese Community Workers Forums
ADEC is currently working with the Vietnamese Workers Network and the Ethnic Mental Health Consultants from North Western Health and the Eastern Area Mental Health Services to organise a mental health information forum for Vietnamese community workers in October this year. The format will be similar to that of the Chinese forum although greater emphasis will be placed on providing information on depression as this has been identified as a significant issue within the Vietnamese community.
Russian Speaking Mental Health Community Education Project
ADEC in collaboration with the Russian Welfare Society, Russian Ethnic Representative council of Victoria, Shalom Association and Jewish Community services and have developed a media campaign in order to present and identify mental health issues relevant to both the Russian Orthodox and Russian Jewish communities living in Melbourne.
The media campaign will consist of information sessions being presented on both SBS and 3ZZZ radio programs by Dr Michael Galak, who is a Russian speaking clinician from the Dandenong Area Mental Health service. Similarly these information sessions will also be presented in several Russian Australian newspapers and magazines. Furthermore two information contact lines will also be established for those who require further information on mental health, the accessing of services or any other issue related to the radio sessions or print media articles. The two contact lines will only be in operation during the campaign. The media campaign is to commence in late August or early September.
For those who have any questions regarding these community education projects or would like to obtain more information about ADEC's Psychiatric Ethnic Access Program please contact Malina Stankovska or Barry Petrovski.
Top
It has been a busy time for me since I joined ADEC in March but very enjoyable and productive. One of my roles is to ensure that Home and Community Care agencies across Victoria are providing services that respond to people from non English speaking background.
Fortunately, there are a number of projects in Victoria which are actively trying to improve service in the Aged
Care services system. I have been working with two main networks: the Program Development and Access Workers network (18 projects) and the Ethnic Service Development Projects Officers network (11 projects).
I and other staff from ADEC have been resourcing and training workers from these networks to develop Access and Equity Plans for a wide range of service providers e.g. hospitals, home and community care services, community health centres.
I have also been visiting Department of Human Service regions across Victoria to encourage the Department to implement cultural planning processes in their regions in partnership with local advocacy organisations. In general, the response has been positive with most regions indicating their willingness to place a high priority on cultural planning in the coming financial year. Regions have also responded very positively to
ADEC's role in coordinating these initiatives and to providing training to both themselves and non government agencies.
One of the exciting events in my project has been the establishment of ADECs HACC ethnic web site - a first for Australia - which enables workers and agencies to obtain direct and low cost access to ADECs cultural planning materials. There is great interest both in Victoria and at a national level in this web site and we are currently working to make the site as user friendly as possible.
I am currently working towards establishing a Victoria wide cultural planning strategy which will ensure that every service provider in Victoria will have access to local trained resource agencies which can assist them in improving services to ethnic consumers.
Meyer Eidelson
Top
ADEC has received an Aged Care Branch grant to facilitate nine Program Development and Access forums until June 2001.
The 1998-99 Home and Community Care (HACC) funding round resulted in the establishment of 18 new Program Development and Access (PDA) projects located in all nine regions of Victoria. These projects, which are funded until June 2001, aim to improve access by special needs groups to HACC services. Groups targeted by the current round of projects include financially disadvantaged persons, people from non English speaking backgrounds, people with disabilities, Koorie consumers and older persons.
On 1Oth June, 1998 an induction forum into this new best practice model was hosted by ADEC for regional Departmental staff and for the 18 new PDA projects and auspices. Approximately 30 participants spent a day together sharing strategies for improving the aged care service system.
Several speakers, invited from previous PDA projects, spoke eloquently and passionately about their experiences and the essential elements of successful
reform. These included Robert Reid (financially disadvantaged consumers), Christine Scott (people with disabilities) and Licia Kokocinski (ethnic consumers).
On the 3rd August, 1999 a second PDA forum was held at ADEC which included training on implementing the cultural planning tool, utilising PHACS reforms and developing quality funding submissions.
These forums provide valuable opportunities for PDA Coordinators to experience peer review, share information, organise training and share approaches.
For more information contact Meyer Eidelson.
PDA Forum held at ADEC House, 3rd August, 1999
Program Development and Access Program (PDA) Northern Region
The Department of Human Services (DHS) Northern Metropolitan Region is funding ADEC to implement a three year Program Development and Access project.
The project will address the under representation of a range of non English speaking background (NESB) communities accessing Home and Community Care (HACC) services across the Northern Metropolitan Region.
The goals for the project are:
To assist 45 HACC funded agencies over a three year period to understand and implement the Cultural Planning Tool (CPT)*.
To assist each agency to develop an individual Access and Equity Action Plan which will outline the commitment to addressing cultural relevance in all areas of service provision.
To provide individual agencies with relevant assistance e.g. training, resources and support to individual agencies in order to improve or increase access for clients of NESB.
Access and Equity Plans identify access barriers as well as outline effective working protocols and strategies to better service the needs of clients from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The Steering Committee for this project is well underway and has representatives from a range of HACC funded agencies (generic and ethno specific). The project has commenced with the following services:
Banyule City Council Hume City Council Bundoora Extended Care Open House Moreland Community Health Centre Carlton Contact Neighbourhood House
For more information regarding this project, please call Josie Prioletti - Project Coordinator on 03 9383 5566
* Note: The Cultural Planning Tool is a tool which assists HACC funded agencies to review all areas of service provision to ensure cultural relevance. Implementation of the Cultural Planning Tool is a requirement of Funding and Service Agreements with the Department of Human Services.
Top
ADEC was requested early this year by the Department of Human Services to host a two day conference in Geelong. The purpose of the conference was to provide training for ethnic service development workers located in extended care centres around Victoria. Approximately 20 participants attended the Grace Mackellar Centre on 20-21 May, 1999. Accommodation, meals and the provision of meeting rooms was kindly coordinated by Val Nicolls of Grace Mackellar.
The ethnic service development workers were keen to learn how to effectively assist agencies to be more responsive to the needs of people from non English speaking backgrounds. On the first day, ADEC's Josie Prioletti led the floor with a comprehensive overview of how to develop access and equity plans.
Meyer Eidelson and Gabriel Maligeorges led the second session which concentrated on developing performance indicators for the standards currently used by the ethnic service development workers. These indicators will be essential in effectively measuring the outcomes of the tasks that the workers are engaged in. ADEC also produced a matrix enabling workers to integrate standards used in different agencies and fields of work.
A follow up meeting for conference participants was also held at ADEC on 1st June, 1999. The participants and the Department have both thanked ADEC for their assistance and, as a result of the conference, there have been further requests for training and information. Other DHS officers have expressed strong interest in the usefulness of the standards matrix in Primary Health and Community Services (PHACS) projects.
Top
FREE FREE FREE FREE
Multi Lingual Mental Health Audio Tapes available at ADEC
ADEC has developed a range of multi lingual information resources on mental health. One of these resources is the Mental Health Information Audio Tapes which was produced in 12 community languages in 1997. These community languages include: Arabic, Cantonese, Croatian, Greek, Italian, Khmer, Macedonian, Mandarin, Polish, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese.
ADEC wishes to giveaway these audio tapes free of charge to any service providers who would benefit from having such a resource. The audio tapes contain an introductory overview of the major psychological disorders and their treatment strategies such as depression, schizophrenia, bipolar and anxiety disorders. They also include information on accessing of mental health services and the rights of consumers.
If any service providers would like to obtain copies of these audio tapes, please contact: Barry Petrovski from the Psychiatric Ethnic Access Program on 03 9383 5566.
Top
As reported in the last newsletter, ADEC has been awarded a two year AccessAbility grant from the Commonwealth's National Office for the Information Economy to publish on the internet information and materials on disability in languages other than English. This will become part of ADEC's new site at http://www.adec.org.au
Many services responded to our request for translated information and these materials are being converted for the web. Some 10 to 15 brochures are being converted each week. Disability information brochures already converted include Acquired Brain Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Down Syndrome, Autism, Services for Deaf Children and the Home and Community Care Program (HACC) brochures. The files have not yet been loaded onto the web site as the development of the associated database has been delayed by the release of MS BackOffice. This software has now been installed.
A conference paper was presented on June 11, 1999 at Monash University on the Babel Tree project. About 20 people attended, and a variety of questions were answered during the session.
Following the conference, Karen Groeneveld of the Commonwealth Department of Communication and Information Technology visited ADEC. After discussion, it was decided that ADEC would apply for a grant to put audio files on disability (in up to 17 languages) on the internet. The project will involve using the studios and announcers from 3ZZZ radio to create the audio tapes. They would then be edited and compressed for the internet.
The first report to the Commonwealth Government on progress for the Babel Tree project has been completed.
A search for other translated disability information documents on the internet indicates that the Babel Tree will be a unique information resource worldwide. Documents found in this search will be included in the Babel Tree database.
With the move of the ADEC web site to its new home, the site search routines had to be reprogrammed. This has been completed and the ADEC site can now be searched. The ADEC publications and links pages have also been updated.
For further information contact Simon Freidin (Information Technology Officer) at ADEC
Top
http://www.adec.org.au/ethnic-hacc/
ADEC is currently completing a new web site to assist Home and Community Care providers around Victoria to develop improved services to people from non English speaking backgrounds. This web site will greatly facilitate the work of the new ADEC HACC Unit funded this year.
The Home and Community Care Program is a joint Commonwealth and State program which funds over 2000 projects around Victoria which enable people experiencing frailty and disability and their carers to live independently at home. Support services include meals, personal care, home nursing, home care, case management, social support, respite and transport. HACC is an increasingly important service as the proportion of elderly people in the community is substantially increasing at this time particularly in ethnic communities.
The new web site provides easy access to a range of information and educational resources which help agencies and advocates to provide high quality services for people from non English speaking backgrounds. It also includes HACC pamphlets translated into 13 different languages.
The Commonwealth has expressed great interest in the web site as it is the first of its kind in Australia and they hope to link it to other web sites in other states to create a national link-up.
ADEC is planning to launch the web site later this year which will also provide the agency with an opportunity to showcase many of ADEC's facilities and resources and the important work of ADECs new HACC Unit.
Top
Many disability services are now seeking to include clients into Quality Assurance activities to ensure that services are relevant and continue to meet the changing needs of the target group.
This task has often been difficult for clients from non English speaking backgrounds who often are unaware of what to expect from the service system due to a lack of information about the service and service standards in their own language.
ADEC has recently developed a multilingual resource that clearly explains the nine Disability Service Standards in thirteen diverse languages.
Each standard is accompanied by a culturally relevant vignette. Each vignette aims to enhance further understanding of individual service standards.
We encourage disability service providers to disseminate this booklet to clients in their preferred language so that all clients, including people from NESB, can have meaningful contribution to Quality Assurance processes.
The booklet will be available in approximately one month.
For further information contact Josie Prioletti at ADEC
Top
Italian Carers Group
The Italian Carers Group meets the third Thursday of each month at ADEC House from 10.30 am till 1.00. It began in March 1995. The group have many interesting guest speakers and outings.
The participants share a caring role and offer support to each other. We celebrate a range of events, including Christmas, Easter and Mother's Day with special luncheons.
I am also a carer of a person with a disability and this makes other carers feel comfortable to talk to me.
Valdina La Terra (Facilitator)
Vietnamese Carers Group
The Vietnamese Carers Group meets the last Tuesday of each month from 10.00 till 1.00. It began early in 1996. Approximately 40% of the carers in the group have sons or daughters with Down Syndrome. Group activities included information sessions from different guest speakers, group outings and celebrations for the Vietnamese community. The venue of the group meeting alternates between ADEC House and Footscray Migrant Resource Centre. New members are always welcome.
Kim Van Nguyen (Facilitator)
The Social Support Program continues to be an important component of ADEC with the four language specific carer support groups comprising between 40 and 60 carers a month.
Carers reflect a diverse range of ages and circumstances. Some are caring for a partner or relative at home, others have adult sons/daughters with a range of disabilities. Other carers have young children with a disability. Most of the carers are women, although some men come along. Their commonalities are their caring roles, language and cultural backgrounds. Coming together enables carers to feel they are not the only one in their circumstance. It also provides an opportunity to receive and share information, provide mutual support and have some time out.
The facilitators of each group have extensive knowledge and experience, and are actively involved in their communities. This contributes greatly to the success of the program.
There is no cost to participate and no waiting lists. Information about the Social Support Program is available in English and other relevant languages.
Please contact the Program Coordinator, Leonie Davey, for further information.
Arabic Carers Group
The Arabic Carers Group was established in October 1997 and meets on the first Tuesday of every month from 11.30 till 2.00 at ADEC House. The group plans its own program of activities each year to meet their own identified needs.
Carers have stated that they did not realise it would be so important and beneficial to them.
Some activities undertaken in 1998/99 included information sessions from the Office of the Public Advocate, Legal Aid Commission, Down Syndrome Association and the Anti Cancer Council. Visits included the Independent Living Centre and the Tulip Festival last September.
Laurice Demian (Facilitator)
Turkish Carers Group
The Turkish Carer Group is the most established carers group. It began in May 1994. The group meet on the third Tuesday of each month at ADEC House from 11.30 till 2.00. Activities include information sessions with guest speakers, group Outings and special celebrations. The Turkish Carers Group enjoy outings very much especially overnight stays. Recently, we went to Healesville and it was an enjoyable weekend.
Isil Yucesaz (Facilitator)
Top
Prahran Mission - Access and Equity Project
Prahran Mission provides a diverse range of services for people with psychiatric disabilities and to low income and disadvantaged people.
The Mission's services are provided to people residing in the Inner South Eastern Metropolitan Region of Melbourne. This includes the municipalities of Stonnington, Port Melbourne, South Melbourne, South Central and St Kilda.
The demographics of this region comprise of 21.7% of residents born in non English speaking countries compared to the Victorian state average of 16.7% (ABS 1996). The project focused on improving the effectiveness of Prahran Mission service program areas in order to increase and improve service access for people of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
The project was developed with the assistance of ADEC and conducted over a three month period, from April to June 1999. Eight service program areas were required to identify service access barriers and develop more effective service delivery strategies.
These strategies are represented in individual Access and Equity Action Plans which are to be implemented over the 1999-2000 period.
Similarly, an overall Prahran Mission Access and Equity Action Plan was developed and presented to senior management which outlined systemic access issues and agency wide service delivery responses.
ADEC would like to express its appreciation to the staff and volunteers of the eight Prahran Mission service areas for their valuable contribution and assistance in the project.
Josie Prioletti
Top
ADEC Calendar Training- Planning for Culturally Relevant Services, 28th Aug 1999.
Training Update Training Calendar
ADEC's annual training calendar for 1999 offers an extensive variety of courses all of which have maintained an ethnicity and disability focus. This year, ADEC has combined some courses with other reputable training providers to add some variety to the well established training calendar.
Courses remaining for the 1999 period include:
Wed 18 August - Focus on the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia)
Wed 1 September - Introduction to Cross Cultural Communication
Wed 8 September - Understanding Refugees from Somalia and Their Communities
Wed 6 October - Planning for Culturally Relevant Services
Wed 13 October - Understanding the Bosnian Community
Wed 20 October - Introduction to Mental Illness
Service Specific Training
Training which is tailored to meet specific agency needs continues to be in great demand. Some services have preferred "in house" training so that training is designed to be as relevant as possible, is more cost effective and travel time is omitted.
The following services have contacted ADEC to design and implement specific training packages for the 1999 year:
Eastern Health Network RMIT - Disability Studies St John of God Services Austin & Repatriation Centre Kangan Batman TAFE Windamere Support Services HACC - Northern Region HACC - Southern Region HACC - Eastern Region Disability Services Training Unit Ballarat Health Services Monash University Wavelink Day Centre Wyndham City Council Brotherhood of St Laurence Council for the Disabled Shepparton Council for the Disabled - Wangaratta
Ageing and Disability In NESB Communities:
Resources for Collaborative Policy and Service Development
The International Year of Older Persons and discussions and debates surrounding the 'ageing of Australia's population' provides optimal opportunity for planning and addressing some key issues that affect older people.
The Ageing and Disability in NESB Communities Project responds to the increased growth of NESB aged and the dearth of adequate planning processes across aged and disability services to meet the needs of these rapidly ageing NESB communities.
The 1996 census estimates that 21% of older Victorians aged 65 and over were born in non English speaking countries. As Australia's aged population grows, it will become increasingly diverse culturally. The numbers of NESB aged are increasing more rapidly than the Australian born.
The aim of the project is to facilitate the aged care and disability services sectors to develop regional collaborative planning processes to respond to NESB elderly who are ageing and acquiring disabilities.
The project targets Victorian and regional policy makers, planners and managers in the Department of Human Services (DHS) disability and aged care sectors involved in the provision of services to aged people who are acquiring disabilities. The project is directly working with DHS's four metropolitan regions and the Barwon region.
The project commenced in July and to date the project consultant, Katherine Wositzky, has been compiling regional profiles of elderly NESB people in the four metropolitan and Barwon regions. The profiles include demographic data, service utilisation data, population projections, and reporting on outcomes from ethnic specific research. The profiles will be published and used to inform regional planning forums to take place in November.
The next tasks of the project will be the identification of current statewide and regional planning structures, liaisons and interface between disability and aged care direct services around the issue of ageing, disability and ethnicity. This includes documentation of current policies, practices and protocols within and between sectors.
The project is a joint venture between ADEC and the Centre for Health Program Evaluation and is due for completion in early 2000.
For more information about this project, please ring Katherine Wositzky.
Top
Pictured the staff members of ADEC listing their relevant program areas.
All ADEC staff may be contacted via Email simply by replacing the first adec on our web site address with the first name of the staff member you wish to contact.
Our librarian, Vicki McKay, (not available to be photographed), generally works a day a week.
Pictured left to right - back to front:Nicole Brainnif: Individual Advocacy; Barry Petrovski: Psychiatric Ethnic Access; Gabriel Maligeorges: Executive Director; Meyer Eidelson: HACC PDA; Simon Freidin: Information Technology; Rosy Kos: Individual Advocacy; Leonie Davey: HACC Social Support; Josie Prioletti: Training Unit & Northern PDA; Nuran Ozdemir: Administration; Ellen Dimitrijevic: Administration
Kim Van Nguyen: Vietnamese Carers Group Facilitator
Laurice Demien: Arabic Carers Group Facilitator
Isil Yucesaz: Turkish Carers Group Facilitator
Katherine Wostizky: Project Worker
Valdina La Terra: Italian Carers Group Facilitator
Malina Stankovska: Psychiatric Ethnic Access Program
Newsletters index
Top
d