RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS

1

• RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS
• OF AN AGEING
• GREEK COMMUNITY
• Presented by
• TINA DOUVOS STATHOPOULOS stavroula mavroudis

2

• Introduction
• Australian Greek Welfare Society (AGWS) is an
  ethno-specific organization providing services to
  the Australian Greek community for more than 34
  years.
• AGWS has developed culturally and linguistically
  appropriate services and responses to community
  needs and increased its capacity to deliver
  services from locations across metropolitan
  Melbourne.
• AGWS continues to be the fundamental and
  traditional point of entry for access to advocacy
  and service provision to the Greek community.
• AGWS provides services in the areas of child
  care, aged care and disability services, direct
  casework and counselling services, community
  education and prevention programs.

3

• Migration Experience
• The first Greeks arrived in Australia in the
  1830s.
• Greek migration to Australia came in waves with
  migration during the period 1952-1974 occurring
  on a large scale.
• Patterns of Greek immigration and settlement were
  strongly influenced by Australian economic
  conditions
• For this reason migration to Australia in the
  post war years played a major role in the
  provision of a labor force to industries that
  were experiencing rapid growth
• More than 75 per cent of Greek immigrants who
  arrived in Australia between 1947 and 1971 were
  unskilled and many were employed as laborers or
  process workers in factories

4

• How many Greeks are there?
• There are 57,770 first generation migrant Greek
  people living in Victoria
• Of these, 35, 134 Greek speaking people are
  aged 60 years
  and 13,141 aged 70 yrs.
• The gender distribution of this group is almost
  identical.
• People from culturally and linguistically diverse
  backgrounds comprise one in five older
  Australians.
• People born in Greece represent the second
  largest group from a non English speaking
  background
• (Data is based on the 2001 Census)

5

• The majority of Greeks have settled across the
  four metropolitan regions of Melbourne,
  particularly in the north and south eastern
  regions.

6

• Characteristics of the Greek Community
• Low levels of proficiency in the English
  language.
• 19.7 of Greece born immigrants in Victoria are
  monolingual (ID Program, Tamis 2001-2002).
• Low income, disability age pension.
• Living with partner or alone.
• Limited knowledge of aged care and health
  services.
• Limited access to services and supports.

7

• (cont.)
• The migration experience for the Greek migrants
  post war provided limited opportunities for the
  development of the English language, access to
  services and due to the nature of the work many
  experience ill health
• These experiences coupled with the ageing process
  has contributed to many of the residual problems
  encountered by the Greek community today. As a
  result there continues to be a demand for
  services for this generation of Greeks,
  particularly in relation to health and aged care.
• One factor militating against good health is the
  problem of access to health services by older
  people who do not speak English well Vanden
  Heuval Wooden 1999.

8

• Current Issues impacting on THE Greek Community
• mental health and in particular depression
• elder abuse
• domestic and family violence
• carer support issues
• drug and alcohol abuse
• family relationship and breakdown
• aged care, including residential care
• Health

9

• AGWS Policy and Service Response
• Organisation policy shifts in the last 5 years
  have reflected the current and projected needs of
  an ageing Greek community.
• Positive Ageing and Ageing in Place initiatives
  underpin the current approaches to care
  provision.
• The AGWS Strategic Plan reinforces the broader
  State and Commonwealth Government priorities as
  well as addresses the specific needs of its
  community.

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• KEY DIRECTIONS
• Partnership and relationship building with other
  service providers including local government,
  multicultural and mainstream organisations
• Provide and expand direct services
• Fee for Service Brokerage Models
• Health Promotion and Community Education

11

• Strategies for Mainstream Organisations
• Organisations must adopt policies that support
  the development and provision of culturally
  relevant and responsive services for CALD
  communities
• Utilise the knowledge and expertise of
  ethno-specific organisations
• Promote services via established groups and
  ethnic media
• Recruitment of bilingual staff and ongoing cross
  cultural training
• Development of policies promoting cultural
  responsiveness
• Cultural planning to support service delivery
• Development of language resources