Assessment
- A CALD Older Person Assessment Tool provides tips for NASC needs assessors who are assessing and coordinating care for older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Decision making
- In many Asian, South Asian and Middle Eastern cultures, the eldest son or family, rather than the older person, are assumed to be the decision makers concerning the care and support of the older person. Assess family patterns of decision making (e.g. individual vs. collective) to know who the key decision maker is in the family.
- Use gender appropriate carers.
- Explore preferred interaction patterns, that is:
- What is the client’s preferred language?
- Is a direct or indirect form of communication most appropriate for this client?
- What is the client’s preferred form of address (formal or informal)?
- Are there other considerations in interactions with the client, such as language matching/gender of service provider/carer/support worker?
Home assessment
- Living patterns: Who lives in the home, relationship to the older person and what is the level of support from the people who live with the older person?
- Safety, comfort and convenience of the home for the older person’s health and well being.
- Financial stability and adequacy of housing.
Family assessment
- Composition and structure, including kinship patterns and social support: expectations of and for family members (who care for the older person).
- Stereotypes that CALD families "take care of their own" can be very misleading since some CALD older people are not part of strong family networks and accordingly are vulnerable to loneliness and isolation.
Culturally appropriate social services
- Develop a knowledge of culturally appropriate social services to refer to for social support, e.g. Shanti Niwas; Chinese Positive Ageing Charitable Trust; Korean Positive Ageing Charitable Trust (refer to information under the “Resources” section).
