Engagement
- Identify, address and regularly review the emotional support needs of your residents.
- Consult family members regarding the emotional support your residents may require and provide emotional support services in the preferred language of your care recipients. Encourage families to visit and support their family member.
- Consider establishing support groups for families in different languages.
- Assist your residents to maintain community and other support networks and explore the availability of volunteers to provide recreational visits to isolated residents in their preferred language.
- Ensure that CALD cultural competency is addressed across all services, including health and personal care, food services and leisure activities.
- Ensure your residents have access to culturally appropriate spiritual support.
- Ensure that staff have been trained in culturally competent care and appropriate communication.
Food services
- Respecting the dietary needs and preferences of your CALD residents will enable them to maintain significant practices, a meaningful connection to the past, and an enjoyable relationship to food (Centre for Cultural Diversity and Ageing, 2010).
- Present menu choices in the preferred language of your residents and involve residents in menu planning and food preparation (where appropriate).
- Regularly include your residents' favourite meals in menu plans - ask residents and/or family members for recipes and instructions on the correct way of preparing these dishes. Obtain specific items and meals from external sources, where necessary.
- Celebrate special occasions with a culturally appropriate dish, and invite families, friends and community members.
- Ensure that any staff responsible for food preparation or assessment of dietary requirements are familiar with dietary preferences and the culturally determined dietary restrictions of your residents, and provide training as required.
