Get the message multicultural Australia needs in language health information
March 23, 2021
Dear Editor,
This Week we celebrate Cultural Diversity Week (March 21-28). I am a proud Australian with Italian heritage. Both of my parents came to this country for a better life more than 50 years ago.
While Australia has made many changes over the years to embrace our multicultural society and support inclusion, my parents still encounter challenges in their daily living, largely due to their language barrier.
This was never more evident than when they both had strokes.
My mother Rosa was an active woman who doted on her close-knit family. She was always on the go, babysitting and cooking for us all. But in 2018 at the age of 69, mum suffered a life-changing stroke. While she could walk, she could no longer open or lift objects or do the jobs that used to bring her joy. Mum’s role in the family changed and she became very depressed.
Then in July last year, at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, my father Guiseppe had a stroke. I recognised the F.A.S.T. (Face.Arms.Speech.Time) signs of stroke straight away – his speech became slurred and his face drooped. I called triple zero (000), knowing he needed urgent medical help. The ambulance took him to hospital, but due to coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions he had to go alone.
This broke my heart. Not only did dad have a fear of being in a hospital environment, he would not be able to communicate with the health professionals around him. I feared this could put his life at greater risk and we were not able to help. My family means everything to me, yet all I could do was sit and wait for word on his condition. It was incredibly distressing.
Fortunately, it was a mild stroke. Dad was discharged later that day with a big folder of information about what a stroke was and how to prevent another one, but it was useless to him. My sister and I had to step up for a second time as carers - read the folder, translate information from the doctors, help with medications and support him. We would do anything for our parents, but seeing their health suffer and knowing they were limited in their understanding of what was happening to them and what supports they could access themselves to help was a stressful experience.
Dad still likes to wander down the street. It's important for his independence, but each time he steps out of the door we worry about him being alone if something else happened to him. I'm sure anyone in our situation would be the same, but the language barrier creates an additional challenge.
I was so pleased to learn Stroke Foundation has now started providing in-language health information to non-English speaking households around Australia. It has resources outlining what a stroke is and the most common signs of stroke, F.A.S.T, in eight different languages (Italian, Greek, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, Korean, Vietnamese and Arabic). An interpreter service is also available on StrokeLine (1800 787 653). StrokeLine is staffed by health professionals who offer advice to help survivors and their carers after a stroke. I hope other organisations follow this wonderful initiative. It will make a difference to families like mine.
Around 4.9 million Australians speak a language other than English at home. One thing we learnt from the coronavirus pandemic is the importance of accessible public health information for all. Let's continue to take steps forward, like Stroke Foundation, to close the gap to ensure people of all cultural and linguistically diverse communities are not disadvantaged when it comes to health care.
Caterina Agnesi, carer, Melbourne.
This Week we celebrate Cultural Diversity Week (March 21-28). I am a proud Australian with Italian heritage. Both of my parents came to this country for a better life more than 50 years ago.
While Australia has made many changes over the years to embrace our multicultural society and support inclusion, my parents still encounter challenges in their daily living, largely due to their language barrier.
This was never more evident than when they both had strokes.
My mother Rosa was an active woman who doted on her close-knit family. She was always on the go, babysitting and cooking for us all. But in 2018 at the age of 69, mum suffered a life-changing stroke. While she could walk, she could no longer open or lift objects or do the jobs that used to bring her joy. Mum’s role in the family changed and she became very depressed.
Then in July last year, at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, my father Guiseppe had a stroke. I recognised the F.A.S.T. (Face.Arms.Speech.Time) signs of stroke straight away – his speech became slurred and his face drooped. I called triple zero (000), knowing he needed urgent medical help. The ambulance took him to hospital, but due to coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions he had to go alone.
This broke my heart. Not only did dad have a fear of being in a hospital environment, he would not be able to communicate with the health professionals around him. I feared this could put his life at greater risk and we were not able to help. My family means everything to me, yet all I could do was sit and wait for word on his condition. It was incredibly distressing.
Fortunately, it was a mild stroke. Dad was discharged later that day with a big folder of information about what a stroke was and how to prevent another one, but it was useless to him. My sister and I had to step up for a second time as carers - read the folder, translate information from the doctors, help with medications and support him. We would do anything for our parents, but seeing their health suffer and knowing they were limited in their understanding of what was happening to them and what supports they could access themselves to help was a stressful experience.
Dad still likes to wander down the street. It's important for his independence, but each time he steps out of the door we worry about him being alone if something else happened to him. I'm sure anyone in our situation would be the same, but the language barrier creates an additional challenge.
I was so pleased to learn Stroke Foundation has now started providing in-language health information to non-English speaking households around Australia. It has resources outlining what a stroke is and the most common signs of stroke, F.A.S.T, in eight different languages (Italian, Greek, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, Korean, Vietnamese and Arabic). An interpreter service is also available on StrokeLine (1800 787 653). StrokeLine is staffed by health professionals who offer advice to help survivors and their carers after a stroke. I hope other organisations follow this wonderful initiative. It will make a difference to families like mine.
Around 4.9 million Australians speak a language other than English at home. One thing we learnt from the coronavirus pandemic is the importance of accessible public health information for all. Let's continue to take steps forward, like Stroke Foundation, to close the gap to ensure people of all cultural and linguistically diverse communities are not disadvantaged when it comes to health care.
Caterina Agnesi, carer, Melbourne.