Access to information and treatment for blood cancer care is not equal for all Australians. Studies show that culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) populations experience challenges in accessing health care at several stages:
- Seeking information/care/support
- Reaching information/care/support
- Receiving information/care/support
These challenges in accessing health care may be due to several factors:
- Navigating an unfamiliar health system
- Language barriers
- Inadequate interpreter and/or translation services
- Lower health literacy
- Social factors
- Limited culturally appropriate health services
The Australian health system
There are resources available in selected languages that can help you understand the Australian health system. An understanding of the Australian health system may be helpful through your blood cancer treatment.
Who can help?
Some hospitals and treatment centres have a Multicultural hospital liaison officer and/or Multicultural Health Nurse. They provide:
- Cultural support.
- Information about hospital services.
- Refer to other organisations, including interpreters and culturally appropriate organisations.
- Help with transport and accommodation if needed.
There are many organisations that provide services and guidance:
- The Translating and Interpreting Service is an interpreting service provided by the Australian Government. It is important if you are non-English speaking, or have limited English, to have an interpreter at your medical appointments.
- The Cancer Council provides phone support in your own language. You can talk with a cancer nurse with the help of an interpreter.
- For information about blood cancer the Leukaemia Foundation have booklets, primarily visual teaching tools, designed with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. However, they may also benefit CALD people whose main language is not English.
Common words used in cancer care
There are many medical terms used in cancer care that can be difficult to understand. Sometimes your treatment team will use words that are new to you. They may also use words that are not easily translatable to your language. If you have an interpreter this can be difficult for them to translate the information. If the information you are provided is not clear, ask your treatment team to explain it in plain language.
Some organisations provide translated explanations of common words used in cancer care:
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre – multilingual glossary.
- Dictionary of Cancer Terms – National Cancer Institute (United States webpage)
Questions to ask
Some questions to ask your treatment team:
- Is there a multicultural health worker at this treatment centre/hospital? How do I contact them?
- Are there interpreters at this treatment centre? How do I access them? Is there a cost for an interpreter?
- Do I need a specialist interpreter, or can family/friends interpret for me? Why/why not?
- Can I bring a member of my family, or a friend with me to medical appointments?
- Do you have information on my blood cancer in my language? If not, where can I access it?
- Do you have information about my treatment in my language? If not, where can I access it?
Multilingual information and resources
- Understanding chemotherapy (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Understanding immunotherapy (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Understanding radiation therapy (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Understanding targeted therapy (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Common questions about chemotherapy (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Coping with a cancer diagnosis (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Fatigue and cancer (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Complementary therapies and cancer (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) | Cancer Australia
- Multilingual resources | Cancer Council
- Support in your own language – Cancer Information Interpreting Service – Cancer Council Victoria (cancervic.org.au)
- Acute leukaemia in children, adolescents and young adults – guide to best cancer care (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Acute myeloid leukaemia – guide to best cancer care (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Acute myeloid leukaemia – guide to best cancer care (audio) (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) – guide to best cancer care (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
- Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) – guide to best cancer care (healthtranslations.vic.gov.au)
State and territory specific multilingual resources
References
- Access to health services among culturally and linguistically diverse populations in the Australian universal health care system: issues and challenges | BMC Public Health | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)
- CaLD Cancer information – Community Consultation Outcomes report (health.wa.gov.au)
- Culturally and linguistically diverse Australians Overview – Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (aihw.gov.au)
- People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Backgrounds – Australian Cancer Plan
- Providing outpatient cancer care for CALD patients: a qualitative study | BMC Research Notes | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)
- Welcome to the NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service — MHCS
