Being culturally sensitive during the holidays

At Christmas time you may be hosting events and activities for your employees and clients, but it’s important to remember everyone celebrates differently. 

While many Australians typically celebrate this holiday period, our population is made up of many cultural backgrounds working in aged care or looking to access aged care services.

Some of these cultures and backgrounds may not engage in typical holiday traditions seen in Australia and it is important to keep this in mind when planning activities at your facility.

Some clients may only celebrate the religious aspects of the holidays or they may not even celebrate it at all. 

This is the perfect time to consider how your clients feel and what they want to do at this time to ensure everyone feels included and valued.

So how can your organisation be culturally sensitive this holiday season?

Involving clients

It is possible to keep everyone from all cultural backgrounds happy at times of festive celebration and the key is building trust with clients and consulting them on their preferences.

Katie Levine, Marketing Manager at Australian Multicultural Community Services, said building trust takes time, consistency, and a genuine interest and curiosity in the other person.

Building trust also means avoiding cultural stereotypes and assumptions. 

This can be avoided by involving clients in the planning of celebrations by asking and listening to how they wish to celebrate and offer opportunities to learn about different cultural traditions and celebrations if they wish. 

“Whether because of family, religion, birth country, personal preference, we all experience the end of the year differently, so we do not assume what people’s experiences will be,” Ms Levine explained.

“If, as an industry, we can practice genuine curiosity for clients and their needs, we can move away from generic sensitivity and into truly consumer directed care, tailored, and individualised support.”

Even after the Christmas and New Years period has ended, engaging in different cultural celebrations helps make culturally diverse workers and clients feel respected and listened to, which can set you above other providers.

Vicki Kanakaris, Cultural Diversity Lead and qualified trainer at Multicultural Aged Care, agreed and said one of the main ways older people find out about aged care services and facilities is through word of mouth and could either provide a good or bad recommendation for your facility.

“Everyone is a cultural being and that is what gives us our unique identity so it’s important for those working with older people to understand about culture,” Ms Kanakaris said.

“If you’re not going to be aware and competent in delivering inclusive care, people won’t go to you. If you are providing these services, that positive feedback will also be passed around through word of mouth.”

You also need to respect people’s decision to either sit out or not engage with these holidays. People may have their own reasons for not wanting to be involved in celebrations and you won’t always know where that stems from. 

It might be because of the holiday itself, or bad memories and trauma that they may have experienced in the past. 

Dementia can also have a big impact on how people feel towards celebrations and can cause clients’ feelings and opinions to change over time. 

You can ask them if there is something else they would like to do such as going on an outing or organising a visitor to spend some time with that client. 

The importance of cultural training 

Culture is forever changing. Diversity can exist within a cultural group based on each individual client’s background so it is vital for workers at all levels of your business to be trained in cultural intelligence.

Cultural intelligence refers to the knowledge that we are all cultural beings, understand the cultural preferences and backgrounds of clients and workers, and can identify tools and strategies that are available.

One of those tools is the ‘Cultural Detective Method‘ which works on building intercultural competence within your organisation with better culture-general and culture-specific communication skills. 

Ms Kanakaris said the cultural intelligence training model needs to be a holistic approach that is provided to all members of an organisation to educate them on cultural awareness, cultural competency and cultural safety. 

“This includes everyone such as cleaners, volunteers, administrative staff and managers. There are pockets of valuable staff who receive valuable information about clients right across an organisation,” Ms Kanakaris said.

The Cultural Detective Method trains users to:

• Become skilled observers
• Describe people’s behaviour in a non-judgmental way
• Consciously filter out cultural biases
• Use emotional reactions as clues for understanding

Most providers have policies surrounding culture, but they may not be extensive enough to make culturally diverse staff and clients feel valued and included. 

You should collate the information provided in training to help mould your cultural policies to be the best they can be. 

Education is key

Outside of training, providers can utilise staff and clients to share stories and give insight into how to be culturally sensitive at this time of year.

Providers have a responsibility to have an understanding of the different cultural holidays celebrated by their clients and workers and to show genuine interest in their preferences.

If a client or worker is celebrating their Independence Day or National Day, find out when it is and ask what you can do to help that person celebrate. 

Simply listening to their national anthem, putting on some traditional food or wearing traditional dress are significant things that can be done to help someone celebrate their culture. 

“It is up to the providers to research and take an interest in the significant celebrations of those receiving their services,” Ms Levine explained.

“We are lucky to work in an industry that affords us access to people, their stories, history, and experiences. It is a fun way to share and celebrate the significance of these days as well as build stronger relationships across generations.”

Ms Kanakaris said your biggest asset as a provider is your workforce, so you should also be thinking about the diversity within your staff and how they celebrate and share experiences. 

Hosting presentations by guest speakers or clients themselves can give everyone in your organisation the opportunity to hear how other cultures celebrate the holidays and build up their own cultural intelligence.

“Most people really enjoy immersing themselves in different cultures. You can pre-plan this to be able to set it up for success rather than failing by not understanding,” Ms Kanakaris said.

Top tips for a culturally inclusive holiday period

In order to keep all staff and clients happy this festive season, there are a few tips you can adopt into your practice. 

To orchestrate a successful holiday period within your organisation, you should:

• Listen to culturally diverse staff and residents on how they wish to celebrate holidays
• Show genuine curiosity in their preferences and stories to show they are respected and valued
• Invest in training and education to understand cultural intelligence
• Utilise your staff and clients to boost everyone’s cultural intelligence by encouraging them to share stories or give group presentations
• Educate yourself on different cultures and the holidays people celebrate to make workers and clients feel valued
• Respect clients’ rights to not participate in celebrations if they don’t want to and work with them to organise an alternative activity 
• Assess your policies and procedures around culture and see if they can be strengthened
• Offer different celebrations for different cultures to increase your organisation and clients’ cultural intelligence

The holiday season is a time of joy and celebration for most, but not everyone may view it the same.

We are all cultural beings with different backgrounds and preferences, and they should be respected both at work or when accessing aged care services.

Providers have a responsibility to ensure these cohorts feel included and valued at all times, but particularly during the holiday season.