workforce
Little things
Helping staff better connect with residents in a multicultural age .
By Elise Hartevelt
A
program has broken new ground in boosting aged care workers ’ confidence by training them to communicate and interact with multicultural residents more effectively .
‘ The Little Things ’ project , a partnership between Farnham Street Neighbourhood Learning Centre ( FSNLC ) and Meaningful Ageing Australia , was created to tackle language and cultural barriers between care workers and residents .
By focusing on pragmatic and polite language techniques , the training kit provides booklets , flashcards , and videos of lectures held by industry experts .
A preliminary study conducted as part of the project surveyed over 75 care workers and found that close to 85 per cent believed that their communication with older people had ‘ improved a lot ’ after the training .
“ Our evaluation of The Little Things program shows this training is a feasible and effective option ,” the researchers said .
One-third of the care workforce in residential aged care come from a culturally and linguistically diverse ( CALD ) background .
But it ’ s estimated the aged care workforce is short on 35,000 staff , a deficit that was exacerbated by Covid restrictions preventing overseas staff from flying in .
Since the borders have opened again , home affairs minister Clare O ’ Neil raised the migration cap to increase the influx of foreign workers .
“ The demand for personal care workers has risen dramatically over the past decade , increasing recruitment of staff born outside Australia ,” the researchers said .
Yet , CALD workers often experience difficulties communicating and engaging well with residents .
“ A CALD speaker ’ s pragmatic competence is often less immediately obvious than their grammatical competence ,” the researchers said . “ But if they fail to follow the sociopragmatic rules of a particular culture , they can appear impolite , and serious consequences may arise from misunderstandings .”
Those barriers are not only related to English language proficiency but also to differences in beliefs and understanding of people ’ s behaviours and preferences .
In fact , a national survey revealed that 70 per cent of aged care managers said communication was the most urgent issue for CALD staff .
“ Demand for
personal care workers has risen dramatically .
“ Lack of awareness of the cultural rules embedded in routine communication , including ‘ small talk ’ and non-verbal signals , may affect how carers recognise changes in the wellbeing of older people ,” the researchers said .
“ Training CALD staff has the potential to increase both care-recipient wellbeing and worker satisfaction during routine interactions while providing care in residential aged care settings .”
The researchers said there ’ s a lack of CALD-focused training for care workers , which can lead to staff struggling to build interpersonal bonds with residents and provide good care .
They emphasised that while the program showed potential , more research and training programs are needed to supply adequate resources . “ Particularly those from CALD backgrounds need to develop pragmatic language skills to navigate and negotiate incidental social interactions within a multicultural aged care environment .”
“ The evaluation supported the effectiveness of The Little Things training in increasing aged care workers ’ confidence in communicating with residents and their focus on relationship building rather than tasks .” ■
26 agedcareinsite . com . au