Cultural competency training for allied health and health promotion

Women's Health in the South East (WHISE) and the Multicultural Health and Support Service (MHSS), as part of the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health (CEH) are pleased to offer a free professional development opportunity for all allied health professionals, health promotion practitioners, policy-makers and health planners in the Southern Metropolitan Region.

People from culturally and linguistically diverse communities can experience poor health outcomes, as a result of racism and discrimination, low health literacy, limited access to health services or poor knowledge of health systems, or socioeconomic disadvantage, visa or citizenship status or experiences of trauma related to their migration or asylum experiences.

However, by providing person-centred, equitable and culturally safe health care services and health promotion messaging, we can ensure that people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities experience optimal health outcomes.

The aim of the course is to improve the knowledge and skills of allied health professionals, health promotion practitioners, policy-makers and health planners, to enable them to provide culturally appropriate, safe and inclusive services and messaging.

Morning tea refreshments will be provided.

The learning outcomes for participants are to:

• Increase practitioners' knowledge of the social determinants and lived experience that may impact the health of migrants, refugees and culturally and linguistically diverse people in Australia.
• Increase practitioners' understanding of how different cultural beliefs and values affect health behaviours.
• Increase practitioners' knowledge of the explanatory framework of health for working with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
• Increase practitioners' knowledge of the teach-back technique for working with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
• Increase practitioners' knowledge of intersectionality and the linkages between gender and cultural diversity.
• Increase practitioners' knowledge of the sexual and reproductive health issues affecting culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia.
• Increase practitioners' confidence in working with interpreters to deliver health promotion information or services.
• Increase practitioners' confidence in supporting a someone from a culturally or linguistically diverse background to access health information or services.

This professional development opportunity is being offered as part of the work to implement the Good Health Down South 2021 - 2025 regional strategy to improve women's sexual and reproductive health, led by WHISE and supported by the Good Health Down South Network. This event is supported by the CEH and the City of Casey. To read the strategy, please see our website: https://whise.org.au/how-we-improve-womens-health/how-we-improve-sexual-and-reproductive-health/

For more information regarding this event or WHISE's work in sexual and reproductive health, please contact Sexual and Reproductive Health Promotion Lead Laura Riccardi via email: lriccardi@whise.org.au