Diversity & Inclusion

Equality, diversity and inclusion are three key values which are essential when providing fair and accessible aged care. Excellent quality care requires aged care staff to treat the people they support with dignity and respect, which requires them to have the in-depth skills and knowledge our courses supply surrounding cultural competence and understanding people’s individual and unique needs no matter their differences.

Why diversity and inclusion is important

Diversity is the understanding that every individual has their own unique differences and characteristics. These can include features like ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, disabilities and age. Inclusion is the act of accepting and treating all people equally, no matter what different characteristics they may have. Inclusion involves taking steps to give everyone the right to the same high-quality aged care.

Australia’s population is incredibly diverse, and this is especially prevalent in the older population. In 2016 1 in 3 older people were born outside of Australia, with most being born in a non-English-speaking country. This means providing inclusive aged care to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds is an incredibly important factor when delivering high-quality care.

Older people can also be more vulnerable and at risk from facing discrimination as factors like their age, disabilities or illnesses can mean they are unable to protect themselves from harm as easily as younger, healthier people. Our inclusive care e-learning courses give your care organisation the resources needed to put their health and safety first by adapting and improving your service to provide industry-leading care in line with important human rights laws.

Legislation surrounding diversity

A range of anti-discrimination laws were introduced between 1975 and 2010 by the Commonwealth Government and the state and territory governments to protect against the discrimination of Australian people based on characteristics including sexuality, gender, religious and political beliefs, age, race or disability.

Our diversity and inclusion courses aim to ensure these laws are upheld within aged care organisations, which is why we offer specialist courses on people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, the LGBTI+ communities as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Altura Learning’s aged care diversity courses

The purpose of our equality, diversity and inclusion courses are to give care workers skills relating to effective cultural competency training and empathy. They will gain an insight into other people’s differences to provide a more personalised level of cross-cultural care, tailored to the unique needs of the person.

We are currently offering 5 specialist online courses each covering subjects relating to diversity and inclusion within aged care. These courses include LGBTI+ inclusion and awareness, cultural diversity in ageing, working with cultural diversity and promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in both a home care and residential care setting.

Each of these courses will give staff an understanding of the key principles of equality and diversity in aged care by educating them on the struggles older people from the LGBTI+ community, along with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, have faced and may face when moving into a care environment.

Understanding the challenges faced by diverse older people in aged care settings can help care workers deliver practical strategies to provide culturally inclusive care, as they are more aware of the individual needs of each person. They’ll also learn how their own cultural background impacts the quality of care they deliver, enabling care workers to reflect on their service and ensure they are being inclusive and treating everyone, no matter what their cultural differences may be, with dignity and respect.

One of the key skills your care staff will gain from our engaging video courses is how to recognise all forms of discrimination, whether intentional or unintentional, and how to challenge it to promote diversity and equality in your care organisation. This is one of the biggest benefits of our courses as preventing discrimination in your home or residential care setting allows your service to be more welcoming and accessible for a wider range of people.

Choose Altura Learning today!

We’ve been providing exceptional training to aged care organisations across Australia since 2003, working with aged care experts to create unique, engaging and industry-leading e-learning courses that have helped further the level of care delivered by services all over the globe.

All our courses contribute to the continued professional development of your staff, and are suitable for people at all levels of your organisation. Whether they’re volunteers, care workers, administrators, registered nurses or managers, you’ll be sure to find a course suited to you.

If you’re new to our training courses or already have a bespoke membership package with us, enquire online today to add any of our diversity and inclusion courses to your e-learning library!