Ageing independently is a priority for many elderly people. However, changes in health, capability or mobility could mean that they need support and assistance to achieve such goal, and supports for home aged care could be a solution.

It is not uncommon to come across the frustrating experiences of many seniors and their families in the course of navigating and accessing the complex maze of the aged care system. For the elderly people of migrant and multicultural backgrounds, bearing the languages and cultural barriers, together with inadequate understanding of local aged care system and infrastructure, the situation can be even worse. Months of COVID lockdown further exacerbated this kind of perplexity and helplessness.

CASS, with over 40 years of experiences in the provision of comprehensive community services and aged care services, especially in serving and supporting the multicultural communities, has been honourably selected as one of the 22 partners to deliver the “EnCOMPASS Multicultural Aged Care Connector Program”, with a focus on Western and Southwest Sydney Regions.

Funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health, The EnCOMPASS Programme is a partnership between the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) and local EnCOMPASS Partner organizations to support the older people of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds and their communities to access the aged care system and other supports.

Ms Robin Chen, Project Manager of CASS EnCOMPASS Program, explained the difficulties and frustration, “Comprehending massive amount of information online, managing complicated application procedures and lengthy assessment process of My Aged Care is really challenging and demanding for migrant seniors.  Relevant social workers can only offer assistance after the assessment is completed. However, the elderly people and their families feel helpless from the beginning of application on their own. It is believed that some of the seniors may choose to hide their actual needs, probably delaying their health needs and thereby generating mental health issues. ”

“The EnCOMPASS Program is meant to help older people of CALD background, in their preferred language and similar cultural background, through a strength-based, no-wrong-door approach to understand and access aged care and other services.”

“The uniqueness of this program is our Encompass Connector can provide one-on-one support and culturally appropriate tailored information about accessing aged care, in a focused and tailor-made approach. CASS has Connectors speaking Mandarin and Cantonese as well as Vietnamese to assist and support the elderly of respective CALD communities.”

Robin emphasised, “This EnCOMPASS Program focuses on supporting the elderly people to access and register with My Aged Care until a care plan is developed. It provides users the flexibility and autonomy in choosing a suitable and reliable service provider of aged care services after completing the assessment of My Aged Care.  The services of EnCOMPASS Connectors are free and available to people aged 65 and older from non-English speaking backgrounds, their carers and families. ”

To learn more about how the EnCOMPASS program can support our CALD seniors and communities, please contact CASS EnCOMPASS Connectors:

Ms Lila Yin (Mandarin and Cantonese)

Phone: 0456 913 409

Email: [email protected]

Ms Van Trinh (Vietnamese)

Phone: 0437 836 148

Email: [email protected]

Both of them are located at 44-50 Sixth Avenue, Campsie NSW 2194

To learn more about the community services provided by CASS Care, please stay tuned to CASS Care Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CASSCare.english, visit our webpage https://casscare.org.au/ or contact us on (02) 9789 4587.