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The theme for Multicultural Health Week 2013 was “Working together for safe, quality care”, with specific focus on medication safety as part of the National Health Care Standards. The theme and corresponding messages highlighted the role of both health care provider and patient in patient safety, the need for increased awareness when treating CALD patients, the prominence of medication errors, advantages of employing the Teach Back technique, interpreter use and questions patients should ask in health care settings.
The week-long event comprised a range of activities and resources specific to the theme, including a media launch, language-specific community advertisements in Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Italian and Vietnamese, the production of Teach Back demonstration and testimonial videos, a dedicated Multicultural Health Week website, posters, information flyers, multilingual resources related to medication safety, and as in previous years, activities conducted on a Local Health District (LHD) level that demonstrated their ongoing involvement and support of the event.
The launch was a full occasion attended by 150 industry people and featured insightful expert presentations, health professional media interviews and resource displays on the theme. Multicultural Health Communication Service (MHCS) received an overwhelming number of resource requests and positive feedback for the resources that were produced specifically for Multicultural Health Week.
The success of Multicultural Health Week 2013 was brought about through the combined efforts and cooperation between MHCS, the Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC), NPS MedicineWise, and the NSW LHD Multicultural Health Service Directors. The feedback and outcomes from the activities and resource productions undertaken will be used to inform future Multicultural Health Week and like events; for improved awareness, better service and total inclusiveness - for a healthier multicultural Australia.