Community Partners Program

CPP is an Australian Government initiative. Cambodian-Australian Welfare Council of NSW has received funding from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing to implement the Community Partners Program to help older people from the Cambodian community access quality aged care services

The Community Partners Program promotes and facilitates increased and sustained access by the Cambodian community with significant aged care needs to aged care information and services. The project targets older people from the Cambodian community in South West Sydney Aged Care Planning region including Fairfield, Liverpool and Bankstown.

The main objectives of the Community Partners Program (CPP) are:

Helping older people from Cambodia accessing Community and Residential Aged Care services including Community Aged Care Packages (CACPs), Extended Aged Care at Home and Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia (EACH/EACH D).

Providing support to the mainstream providers in provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate care to Cambodian older people.

The Community Partners Program officer conducts information sessions on aged care services targeting older people and carers of the Cambodian community. Our sessions are conducted in conjunction with relevant service providers in the South West Sydney region. In our information sessions, all information is made available to older people, their carers and families. Older people ask service providers questions about the packages, questions and answers are discussed in detail to ensure that guest speakers and participants are clear on the contents and services. Evaluation is conducted for comments and suggestions.

What we hope will change as a result of what we do:

Raise community awareness of aged care services in the South West Sydney region.

Knowledge of community are services enhanced by the community

Individuals will make informed choices

New links will be established with service providers in SWS.

Fact sheets on aged care services in Khmer language and English distributed to the community.

Identification and removal of specific barriers to access appropriate aged care services for older people from the Cambodian community.

We also disseminate of information to the wider Cambodian community on aged care services through the Media. This is done so that awareness by the Cambodian community of aged care services will be enhanced, more referral to Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) and information about aged care services are sought. In the implementation of the Community Partners Program, we maintain sustainable partnerships with service providers in the SWS region. We provide support to services on request and established partnerships with service providers are sustained through ongoing support. We also establish links with Residential Aged Care facilities in the SWS region and services are more responsive to the needs of the Cambodian community. Referrals are made to ACAT and other services if clients need to access services.

When working with mainstream service providers the CPP officer can:

Conduct cultural briefings about the Cambodian culture, traditions, migration experience, dietary needs, etc.

Assist in organising culturally appropriate activities for clients; provide and /or lend resources which can be utilised in those activities e.g. books, audio/video resources.

Provide Cultural Awareness Kits in Khmer language and updates when requested.

Assist with promotion of services/ facilities in the Cambodian community.

Assist in building co-operation/ partnerships between mainstream service providers and the Cambodian community.

Provide support in development and maintenance of clusters targeting Cambodians in the residential aged care facilities.

For more information please contact the CPP officer:

Virack Khoun

Week Day: Monday - Friday, 9.00 am - 4.30 pm

Tel: (02) 8786 2581

Email: cppworker.cawc@cambodianwelfare.org.au