Cultural Awareness

Contacts
Interpreters
Ethnic Health-Rehabilitation & Aged Services Program
Ethnic Mental Health
Koori and Aboriginal Liaison Service
Pastoral Care Services
Primary Care/Community Health Services
Cross Cultural Advisory Committee

What is Cultural Awareness?

Culture consists of patterns of behaviour and beliefs which characterise a group of people at a given point in time.  The behaviour may relate to religious practices, rituals, food choices etc.  Within the health system, cultural awareness is an understanding of the likely impact of these behaviours and beliefs, on health, illness, care and hospitalisation.

Cultural Awareness and Southern Health

Southern Health serves an area with a high proportion of people from non-English speaking backgrounds, particularly in the Clayton, Springvale and Dandenong areas.

We employ a workforce that in many ways reflects this diversity in the community.

Southern Health has an active Cross-Cultural Advisory Committee

This committee draws representatives from all hospitals, community health services and Non English speaking background community groups including the indo-Chinese Association, the Centre for Culture Ethnicity and Health and Southern Ethnic Advisory and Advocacy Council.

Southern Health employs a Koori Liaison Officer and an Ethnic Liaison Officer works in the Mental Health Program and regularly runs training courses on Cultural Diversity.

The Birthing Centre at Moorabbin Campus has a special service for the many Vietnamese background women in our area. Springvale Community Health Services has a midwives program particularly focusing on Vietnamese and Cambodian women.

Who Needs to know about Cross Cultural Awareness? 

All staff and volunteers who have patient contact:  nursing staff, All Allied Health staff, Medical staff, Pastoral Care / Chaplaincy, Ward clerks, Admissions and Reception staff, Patient Services Assistants, Environmental Services staff and volunteers with patient contact.
 

How is Cross Cultural Awareness Promoted in Southern Health?

• Cross Cultural Awareness Week

• Aboriginal Week

• Refugee Week

• Education and Training on:

• How to work effectively via an interpreter

• Cross Cultural Communication

• Recognising the importance of cultural issues in healthcare

• Health Assessment between cultures

Cross Cultural Contacts 

Interpreting Services

Most of the Interpreting Services within the Southern Health are provided by Monash Medical Centre and Dandenong Hospital.

The languages provided at each site are: 

The hours of availability are:  Monday to Friday, 8.30 am – 5.30 pm

 All requests for interpreter services can be made via the pager during normal hours.

After hours and weekends assistance at Monash can be from the Telephone Interpreter Service by ringing the switchboard.  After hours and weekend assistance at Dandenong for on-site or over the phone can be obtained from the switchboard. 

During business hours all requests for language other than those listed above can be made through the Interpreting Services at Monash Medical Centre, tel. 9594  2377
or at Dandenong Hospital, tel. 9554 8429. 

Other services provided by MMC and the Dandenong Hospital Interpreter Services include:

• Written translations
• Cross cultural training sessions for all staff upon request.

Ethnic Health - Rehabilitation & Aged Services Program

RASP recognizes the special needs of the consumers from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In order to make the services accessible and appropriate, the program endeavors to overcome the possible barriers to service delivery caused by language, culture, race and religion. Language services and cultural awareness training for staff is also a part of this service.

Contact on telephone: 9265 1318

Koori and Aboriginal Liaison Service

Southern Health employs an Aboriginal Liaison Officer who works in collaboration with the Koori Health Unit of the Department of Human Services.

Together they aim to improve Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s access to health care – and create an awareness of the services available in Victoria.

A Clinical In-Service and Cultural Awareness Package is available and offers a specialty program to assist in enhancing the knowledge of Australian Indigenous issues to all Southern Health staff.

The Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer can be contacted via the Social Work department at Monash Medical Centre Clayton on telephone: 9594 2290 or 9594 2391
 

Ethnic Mental Health Consultant

The Ethnic Mental Health Consultant provides strategic direction and co-ordination in improving mental health service delivery to culturally and linguistically diverse consumers/carers. The Ethnic Mental Health Consultant also provides education and training on cultural awareness for staff within the Mental Health Program.

The contact number is Dandenong Hospital: 9554 1583

Pastoral Care Services

Pastoral Care Services at Monash Medical Centre, Dandenong Hospital and the Kingston Centre offer care for patients, families and staff which is holistic and inclusive, embracing people of all religious affiliations, or none.

At Dandenong Hospital a cultural liaison officer facilitates liaison between the hospital and the ethnic communities and service providers.

A beautiful Sacred Space has been built, purposely designed to embrace the needs of seven major world religions represented in the City of Greater Dandenong – Baha’l, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism.

 Primary Care/Community Health Services

The Multicultural Affairs Manager deals with all issues related to cultural diversity and language services within Primary Care. Cross-cultural education and training is also provided. The Manager can be contacted on 8558 9107.

 Cross Cultural Advisory Committee

The Cross Cultural Advisory Committee contributes to the development and maintenance of a health service, which respects and responds to the cultural and linguistic diversity of our community.

It acts as a forum of interaction between Southern Health, other providers including Southern Migrant Resource Centres, the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health and culturally and linguistically diverse community organizations.

It also facilitates information exchange and feedback input into policy development, such as the Cross Cultural Policy.

Further Information

Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Policies & Guidelines
Protocols in Death and Dying
Rights and Responsibilities
(translated into: Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese , Croatian, Dari, Greek, Italian, Serbian, Somali, Turkish, Vietnamese)
Information about cultural diversity on the Victorian Government website http://www.multicultural.vic.gov.au