Having a nursing, events management and aged care background for over 30 years has given Patrizia insight into what diverse communities need for cultural and language appropriate services.
People need to be empowered and some are not articulate in their own language so knowledge and background of culture is needed to allow people to have choices. Many elderly needing aged care services want to stay home and there are home care packages which encourage this, so culture is a must and language is also important to have choice and be empowered.
Patrizia joined the MCCSA board as she saw the need for people to have appropriate resources to make decisions and choices about lifestyle and the need for culture and language.
She understands the complexity and experience of the migration process on a personal level as she migrated to Australia from Italy with her parents at a young age but felt she did not feel part of the community and moved back to Italy as a young adult.
Patrizia returned to Australia after living in Rome for three years with an understanding of the power of advocacy and acknowledging that information and knowledge is power, as it encourages an individual to make choices and to enrich the diverse Australian community.
It is this level of personal experience that puts Patrizia in a position to promote and advocate information which is uniquely ‘culturally and linguistically’ necessary.
“I encourage and support advocating in specific languages to have the messages delivered in a culturally appropriate way,” she said.
Integration is important and not assimilation, whereby culture and history are not lost, and Australia becomes a richer nation. Through MCCSA she hopes to advocate for the community to be more integrated to add further value to our nation.
Patrizia said: “I would like to see decision-makers embrace full participation within the diverse communities in social, economic and cultural lifestyles. Understanding culture and language removes barriers and allows us to integrate.”