Health Promotion and Community Development

The activities of the Health Promotion and Community Development section include provision of information to the Italian community in Victoria on aged care services, including community based and residential aged care services, and health promotion, especially on topics that are relevant to the ageing Italian community.

Specific areas of involvement include:

• Provision of cultural briefings to community based agencies and residential care facilities in order to promote cultural awareness and culturally sensitive practice.

• Project work dependent on successful funding applications which are relevant to the Italian community. Such projects include:

  Diabetes

  Dementia

  Quality use of medicines

  Falls prevention

  Men’s health

  Women’s health

  Crime prevention and the Italian older community

  Problem gambling and the Italian older community

• Assistance to the Italian community in accessing and negotiating the Home and Community Care (HACC) service system.

• General social work assistance to the Italian community via the Information and Referral Service which operates four days a week and by appointment.

• Provision of general information to the wider service system on culturally appropriate care and services that are available to the Italian community via Co.As.It.

• Provision of assistance to members of the Italian community who are financially disadvantaged.

• Specific group work - provision of information and support to members of the Italian community who have been injured at work.

• Provision of short-term counselling to Italian family caregivers who have been referred by Carers Victoria via the National Carers Counselling Program (NCCP).

• Individual advocacy – assisting members of the Italian community to achieve the best outcomes and to ensure that their cultural and linguistic needs are met thus enhancing the quality of life of the individual.

• Resourcing the Italian community with existing linguistically appropriate materials.

• Provision of information to the Italian community regarding services provided by Italian-speaking service providers.

• Information and support to Italian senior citizens’ clubs and to the Association of Italian Senior Citizens’ Clubs.