The Carer Support Program for carers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds is a program of the Transcultural Mental Health Centre, funded by the Centre for Mental Health, as part of the NSW Caring for Carers Mental Health Program. It was established in June 2002, to provide support and information to carers of CALD background, who look after a family member or friend with a mental health problem.

Between June 2002 and August 2003, the program successfully piloted the Bilingual Community Education (BCE) Program by recruiting and training a pool of Bilingual Group Leaders (BGLs) to establish and facilitate language-specific support groups for CALD background carers who live in Sydney. To date, more than twenty language-specific carer support groups have been established and conducted across Sydney metropolitan area and Wollongong. Over three hundred carers have participated the support group sessions.

In its attempt to reduce prejudice and stigma associated with mental illness, the program has also implemented a number of communication strategies to raise awareness in the targeted communities such as conducting community education seminars, delivering relevant mental health segments on ethnic radios and writing newspaper articles.

A full report on its initial pilot had been written and submitted to the Centre for Mental Health and also distributed to relevant government and non-government organisations. The program has since been given a recurrent funding to continue its work with CALD background carers living in NSW.

To improve the health and well being of carers from CALD backgrounds who look after someone with a mental illness, through the provision of support groups and other support services provided by TMHC, as well as the encouragement and promotion of access to health and non-health services available to carers and their families in the community.

• To continue providing appropriate support to carers of CALD backgrounds through the existing carer support groups, as well as establishing new ones to meet the needs of new emerging carers.
• To recruit, train and contract a new/additional pool of BGLs to meet the demands for group work across Sydney, and to implement other communication strategies on mental health, mental illness and the needs of carers and their families.
• To provide support, supervision and coordination to BGLs in delivering their work programs to carers and people in their ethnic communities.
• To encourage carers and consumers participation and representation in the training courses, workshops and conferences
• To develop networks for CALD background carers' and supportive environments for carers beyond their attendance in the support groups.
• To build collaborative partnerships with existing local and state mental health services and other family and carers initiatives to enhance carers' access to services, support and information.
• To ensure that carers of CALD background's needs are known and addressed by TMHC staff and management, the Centre for Mental Health and other government and non-government organisations

• People who are caring for family members/friends with a mental health problem.
• Ten targeted CALD communities across NSW and the languages covered among these communities are Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Farsi, Greek, Korean, Khmer, Maltese, Spanish and Turkish.
• Key relevant Government and Non-Government Organisations

For further information:

Ramy Var
Support Program Officer for Carers of CALD Backgrounds
Email