Keeping the community connected and at home

FOR 25 years Cultura, has supported multicultural communities around the region in a multitude of ways, including through their home services program.

The program is broken up into two areas, with home services connected to centre-based activities and the home care package program.

The centre-based activities run out of the Healthy Living Centre in Norlane, where Cultura run social support group work and work on forming social connections for older people.

As part of the activities participants complete yoga while sitting in a chair, craft, outings to the botanical gardens to get a coffee and more.

Cultura’s Geoff Barber said the organisation was proud of the work they do and there is a range of activities curated by the team with the goal of reducing social isolation.

“A lot of our work is around getting people moving, coming to the centre a couple of days a week or more, part of that involves getting out of the house, getting onto buses, getting around, but also just doing some movement and other exercises even at the centre.”

Cultura also have packages available for people who need assistance in the home, providing a range of supports from getting them involved in social groups to help with cleaning, showering and other essential tasks.

“Our whole goal as a provider of these packages is to try and keep people at home as happy as possible and tailor supports to their individual needs,” Mr Barber said.

“We’re all about trying to help people stay active and independent and in control of their life as much as possible, for as long as possible at home, then support them when the time comes to move on or help facilitate around permanent care or other things that might come next.”

While Cultura has a focus on supporting the multicultural communities in the region, their services are available across all types of nationalities.

Bilingual and bicultural workers make up the Cultura workforce, allowing them to help people who have challenges around language and assist in navigating what can be a confusing system for some.

“We match people as best we can with people from different backgrounds and we have a robust governance system and clinical system so that we can ensure that we are linking people with the supports they need,” Mr Barber said.

For more information, head to cultura.org.au

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