Joining forces to get multicultural communities tested & vaccinated

Leaders and colleagues from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in SESLHD are once again tackling the latest COVID-19 outbreak with incredible energy and compassion.
 
More than 130 staff members from across the District who speak a language other than English have put up their hands to help get clear, accurate messages out to their communities, encourage people to get vaccinated, and support the contact tracing and case follow-up efforts of the busy Public Health Unit.
 
Dr Marianne Gale, Director of Population and Community Health, SESLHD, said: “From widely spoken languages like Mandarin and Greek, to smaller community languages such as Telugu or Swedish, our SESLHD colleagues reflect the enormous diversity of the District.
 
“I’d like to thank everyone for their invaluable support in engaging with communities to make sure accurate information about the stay-at-home orders, testing and vaccination reaches everyone, no matter which language they speak.”
 
SESLHD’s Multicultural Health team and the NSW Multicultural Health Communications Service (MHCS) have continued engaging extensively with CALD community leaders and organisations during the current outbreak. 
 
As well as keeping up with the ever-evolving health advice in up to 58 languages, the Multicultural Health team has supported a range of initiatives to help get people in SESLHD tested and vaccinated.
 
One such example is the work undertaken with the District’s Arabic-speaking communities. The Population and Community Health team worked with the St Mary and St Mina Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Bexley to set up a pop-up testing clinic on its grounds to serve the local community. Multicultural Health supported the outreach efforts by translating and distributing promotional material to get as many people as possible to come forward for testing.
 
In-language community radio remains an important way of reaching older people, especially those who are not on social media.
 
Hend Saab, a bilingual senior psychologist who works with the Priority Populations Unit and St George Community Mental Health Service, joined a popular Arabic language program on Sydney Community Studio to share the message to stay at home, get tested and get vaccinated. Hend's interview reached more than 6000 people.
 
Community leaders like Sheikh Nami Farhat, from Sydney’s Muslim Community, have played a crucial role in sharing adapted messages and setting a strong example for their communities. The Sheikh recently worked with the Multicultural Health and MHCS teams to produce several videos in English and Arabic. He delivered messages to support people during Eid-al-Adha and to encourage his community to get vaccinated.