Multiculturalism policy and immigrants' health: are we achieving the goal?

Health concerns and expectations of Anglo and ethnic older Australians: a comparative approach

Australia is a multicultural society in which the most rapidly ageing groups are immigrants, many of whom cannot speak English well. Minimal research has been conducted to identify ethnic variation in health concerns and expectations of older Australians from non-English-speaking backgrounds, necessary to facilitate culturally appropriate services. This paper presents findings from 12 focus group sessions (4 Anglo, 3 Italian, 2 Chinese, 2 Arabic, 1 Greek) with older (60+) Australians. Common areas of concern were inadequate medication information, labelling and instructions. Anglo participants differed from ethnic participants in their use of herbal remedies, language, relationship with pharmacist and doctor and awareness of health rights. Other concerns and expectations were specific to a particular ethnic group. The findings should increase health professionals' awareness of the similarities and differences which exist between mainstream Anglo and ethnic Australians, and also between ethnic groups, thereby avoiding the use of a blanket approach when communicating with, or planning policies for, ethnic older Australians.

Toward a model of psychological health empowerment: implications for health care in multicultural communities

This article presents a model of health empowerment from an individual psychological perspective. Building on Menon's (2001) model of psychological empowerment in organizations, psychological health empowerment is developed as a construct to capture the individual community member's feelings of empowerment with regard to health and health care. The context for health empowerment is first conceptualized as an interactive system of three elements, namely, the individual community member, health service providers, and the regulatory environment consisting of health policy and systems. The individual manages his or her own health on a daily basis, interacts with health service providers when in need of specialized medical assistance, and is affected by the 'health policy and systems' element. Perceived control, perceived competence, and goal internalization, the three facets of Menon's empowerment model, are then adapted to the health context. A scale for measuring psychological health empowerment is also proposed. The implications of this approach for health care in multicultural communities are then explored.