Speak My Language (Ageing Well)
Through simple in-language conversations on-air, the Speak My Language (Ageing Well) program assists senior members of the CALD communities to understand recent changes to aged care and make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing.
Through ethnic radio stations, listeners can hear from aged care experts as well as lived experience from families who share their stories and their secret to ageing well in Australia.
The Speak My Language program was an initiative funded by the Commonwealth Government under the Dementia and Aged Care Services Fund Research and Innovation Grants 2017. It is proudly supported by ECCNSW and its primary partners ECCV, ECCQ (Diversicare) and our national broadcasting partners SBS and NEMBC.
In 2016, the federal government discovered that the elderly who came to Australia as migrants were not engaging in ฮy Aged Care, the governmentโs website for aged care services. 85% of the CALD elderly population were not aware of My Aged Care services, even though the website had been available for a year.
The Speak My Language (Ageing Well) program addressed this gap by providing information about My Aged Care and general resources about ageing well through in-language radio interviews and podcasts,
The program partnered with 80 ethnic radio stations and produced over 450 podcasts and radio conversations across NSW, ACT, Victoria and Queensland. Podcasts and radio programs were recorded and aired live in over 25 languages with over 60 bilingual educators trained and supported to deliver the activities across the states and territories. The program reached approximately 4 million listeners across Australia, and the podcasts were downloaded 12,000 times by listeners in Australia, as well as international audiences.
