New guide offers tips for supporting a diverse aged care workforce

A new guide has been developed by the Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra, a regional peak body for multicultural communities, targeted at supporting and improving inclusiveness in aged care settings.

Key points

• Diverse Workforce: A Guide to Supporting Inclusive Workplaces in Aged Care was developed to provide practical advice to support inclusive workplaces in aged care settings, particularly for multicultural workers
• Survey responses from the Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra (MCCI) found that 66% of respondents directly experienced or witnessed someone else experiencing racism or discrimination in their workplace
• Examples include aged care consumers refusing service because of a worker’s cultural or religious background and staff being bullied or belittled by colleagues and managers
• The Guide provides actionable strategies across a range of areas, including Strategy, Policy & Procedure, Leadership Commitment and Consumers & Participants

The foundation of Diverse Workforce is a 2023 survey commissioned by MCCI. The survey gathered general sentiment about workers’ experiences in residential and home support aged care settings. 

Overall, two-thirds of respondents said they had directly experienced or witnessed someone else experiencing racism or discrimination in the workplace. A minority, 7%, said these experiences occurred daily while 11% and 13% said weekly or monthly, respectively.

Racism and discrimination also occurred at both ends of the spectrum with colleagues, managers and aged care consumers all at fault. One respondent said, “The clients can be racist even though we are here to help them” while another added, “I come from Italy, currently experiencing accent acting from colleagues or clients.

The most common situations referred to by respondents included:

• Times when skin colour, cultural background, English proficiency or accent was linked to a negative experience
• Derogatory terms are being used towards them because of their cultural or religious background
• Consumers refusing services because of the worker’s cultural or religious background
• Questioning of qualifications and experience garnered overseas
• Situations where they felt belittled or bullied by colleagues or managers, and in some cases, felt they were overlooked for promotion

Other examples of racism or discrimination shared by aged care workers touched on a variety of challenges individuals face.

“I have offered a lady of colour to one of our clients who declined because it wasn’t a “white” lady. The client asked the lady’s name first and then asked if they were “white”,” one respondent shared.

“I’m Aboriginal and everyone seems to think/ feel they have the right to express their negative opinions of the first peoples of this land to any stranger who visits them,” said another.

“Worker was labelled as not for promotion/ additional roles as it was perceived she did not have the English language skills to complete higher tasks. Management made plans to transfer this employee from a care role to the laundry where she would not be required to write English,” a respondent said.

“It is mostly ageism. Due to my age, I am overlooked for assignments. Other staff in my team ‘change their style of communication’ when talking with me which feels ageist. I have also had to stop myself from using ageist remarks (about myself) as a form of humour- self-deprecating and not very respectful generally to older people,” revealed another.

Taking action 

MCCI’s guide states, “Creating an inclusive workplace that embraces diversity, engagement and belonging requires intention and takes effort.” 

By outlining practical and actionable strategies it provides a valuable plan of attack for aged care providers ready to enhance diversity and inclusion. Examples include:

• Understanding Your Workplace: How is baseline diversity attribute information collected about your employees?
• Leadership Commitment: How is leadership commitment to diversity & inclusion embedded within your organisation?
• Strategy, Policy & Procedure: What strategic and policy/procedure frameworks do you have to promote diversity & inclusion? 
• Consumers & Participants: How do you work with consumers and participants to raise their awareness of diversity and inclusion?  
• Continuous Improvement: How do you involve all of your teams in the processes of continuous improvement?

Critically, the guide outlines that “Inclusion is everyone’s responsibility” and through a clearly communicated list of tips it’s possible for anyone and everyone to self-assess how they approach inclusion in the workplace. 

Click here to read Diverse Workforce: A Guide to Supporting Inclusive Workplaces in Aged Care.