News from the Ground | "Refugee Health Project"
eCALD Services contracted Mr. Del Salmanzadeh to engage with the refugee health sector in order to ascertain the needs for cross-cultural training and to disseminate information about the eCALD program to the less-reached health workforce across the motu.
eCALD Services wants to thank Adel for bravely embarking on this challenging journey and accomplishing much quickly from April to June 2024. Below are some key insights and recommendations from him.
The engagement with several recent and more established refugee settlement regions highlighted the urgency and the continuing need for eCALD courses for the health sector. The refugee health stakeholders emphasised the importance of creating an eCALD supporting role in which a cross-cultural worker with in-depth knowledge and understanding of a particular refugee population can co-present as part of each training session.
With the feedback on eCALD delivery modes, the stakeholders acknowledge that the offerings provide enough flexibility and availability to cater for most health professionals. Regarding the topics and content of our main refugee-related courses, there was a general agreement that the modules cover all key themes to increase health professionals' knowledge of how to best serve their refugee clients' needs. Many were pleased that eCALD is reviewing the refugee course and that the videos will be updated. Most importantly, eCALD has been engaging with the refugee communities and considering their ideas, aspirations, and diverse experiences in dealing with the NZ Health System.
Given that we are dealing with a heavily short-staffed and time-poor professional sector, an incentivised approach through engagement with professional associations may be beneficial. Cultural supervision sessions are an excellent addition to eCALD services. However, the name may need to be changed to reflect the purpose of the sessions, which is for practitioners to explore their challenges and gain support from others with an experienced eCALD facilitator.
Adel concluded his work with eCALD on 30th June 2024. We thank him for his commitment to the project and for going the extra mile to make it a valuable input for eCALD.
We also want to take this opportunity to thank those who have supported and contributed to this project in Auckland, Blenheim, Christchurch, Levin, Masterton, Nelson, Palmerston North, Timaru and Waikato.
