La Trobe University Associate Professor Jo Antoniades was inducted into the Victorian Multicultural Honour Roll on Wednesday for her work promoting dementia awareness and health equity for culturally and linguistically diverse seniors. The Victorian Multicultural Honour Roll recognises the efforts of individuals who have made exceptional and lasting contributions to multiculturalism in Victoria.
Associate Professor Antoniades is known for her work creating culturally appropriate dementia resources. She was a key collaborator in a new series of short films aimed at raising dementia awareness for people from diverse backgrounds, including the Arabic, Mandarin, Tamil and Greek communities.
The films, produced under the Moving Pictures project, which are short films developed with carers, medical experts and academics, ensure the delivery of critical information about dementia reflected the voices of multicultural carers with lived experience of dementia. Dr Antoniades said involving Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities in the design and production of the films empowered individuals and families to better understand, identify and access timely care for dementia. “People from multicultural backgrounds face many roadblocks to service access at different points of the illness journey,” Associate Professor Antoniades said.
“In the later stages of the illness, some may lose their English language skills and revert to their mother tongue, which creates new communication barriers in care provision.
“They may also have different cultural needs such as requiring a specific diet and religious practices, which need to be factored into their care plan.
“Cultural values and stigmas also need to be understood to offer our multicultural community members the best and more appropriate care in their later years, especially when it comes to conditions such as dementia.”
La Trobe Professor of Health Communication and Society Bianca Brijnath said Associate Professor Antoniades was an exemplary scholar and a passionate advocate for multicultural communities. “Associate Professor Antoniades is leading world-first studies on dementia prevention for CALD women, while also providing invaluable support to smaller CALD organisations, helping them thrive at the grassroots level,” Professor Brijnath said.
Associate Professor Antoniades said she was pleased to be inducted into the Multicultural Honour Roll because it showed the importance of her work in the multicultural aged community space.
