Changing the dementia conversation – creating culturally-safe spaces

In many cultures and communities across Australia dementia is stigmatised and rarely spoken about, sparking the need for programs that can help change the conversation.

Both the ACT Chinese Australia Association and Victorian Arabic Social Service used Dementia Australia Diversity Small Grants to develop culturally-appropriate, dementia programs for their communities.

ACT Chinese Australia Association president Kui Wong Chin said that despite running various programs for seniors, their members were hesitant to discuss dementia due to negative connotations.

“They’ve got people they know – friends with dementia – but they tell us they don’t talk about it,” Chin said.

“We’re trying to change it so instead of the term (dementia) being negative, we want to change it to a positive,” she said.

The association used the funding to develop a culturally-tailored dementia program that provides information, activities and a safe environment to have important conversations.

“We deliver the information in a cultural, familiar way that they can understand,” she said.  “Because they trust us, they feel that they’re safe. They can talk about it and they support each other.”

She said that the next step was to support members to talk about dementia with their families.

“They don’t feel comfortable discussing it with their family, yet they feel comfortable to discuss with us in the group,” Chin said.

“We want them to talk to their families because they have the ultimate decision-making around things that the community can’t do for them.”

“Afraid to ask” – breaking stigma in the Arabic-speaking community

The Victorian Arabic Social Service used Diversity Small Grant funding to help raise greater awareness among their clients  and to have more open conversations about dementia.

Aged Care & Disability Officer Stefani Aslani said many of their clients had little understanding of dementia, the diagnosis process or the support available, which often resulted in fear and silence.

There were also widespread misconceptions including the belief that dementia was just a normal part of ageing.

“They think: ‘I’m old now – I’m going to forget, that's just how life is’,” Stefani said.

Fear around early signs of cognitive decline was also common, with many people reluctant to speak about their concerns or seek help.

“People get really worried and scared,” she said.

“I had a client who didn’t want anyone to know that she was forgetting. She said: ‘I'm scared to tell anyone because they're going to think I'm crazy or I can't understand anything anymore’.”

Stefani said the reluctance was often made worse by concerns about becoming a burden on adult children.

The organisation used the Diversity Small Grant funding to run culturally-appropriate workshops to help address these fears and misconceptions.

“They engaged a lot in the sessions because they wanted to know more about dementia but they had just been afraid to ask,” Stefani said.

“We can educate people more about dementia and all the causes and the preventions.

“It really benefited a lot of a lot of the clients.”

About the Diversity Small Grants program

Each year, Dementia Australia funds community groups and organisations for activities that promote culturally-sensitive dementia awareness and understanding in their communities.

Visit theDiversity Small Grants page on the website to learn more.

Resources in other languages

Dementia Australia has translated resources available in more than 40 languages, including Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Arabic, Vietnamese and Filipino.

Visit our website to find out more.  

You can also contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500 or via live chat for support, advice and information 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

If you require the assistance of an interpreter, please call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.