Improving Communication and Confidence in Multicultural Aged Care Teams with Brenna

In the aged care industry, effective communication is crucial, not only for providing high-quality care but also for building trust and transparency with residents and their families. This is especially true in multicultural settings, where language barriers and cultural differences can present unique challenges.

Recently, we had the opportunity to speak with Annie Thompson,

the Executive General Manager of Good Shepherd Lodge Limited, about how her organisation is addressing these challenges through the implementation of Brenna, a communication platform designed specifically for the aged care sector.

Cultural Diversity

Annie's team at Good Shepherd Lodge Limited is highly diverse, with over 70% of the staff not born in Australia. The team includes large cohorts from Nepal, India, the Philippines, and Africa, resulting in a wide range of accents and varying levels of English proficiency. This diversity can sometimes make it difficult for staff to communicate effectively with residents' families, many of whom also come from non-English speaking backgrounds.

"For some of our residents, families receiving the information from our staff, they also are not from an English-speaking background," Annie explained. "So you have sometimes the double whammy of two people speaking to each other in a language that's not native to either."

Priority Rating For Family Members

This is where Brenna comes in. The platform provides a structured, step-by-step process for staff to communicate with families, ensuring that critical information is delivered consistently and clearly. The built-in traffic light system also helps to convey the urgency of the situation, allowing families to respond appropriately.

"It allows us to talk to all family members at the same time," Annie said. "So we don't have to make 10 phone calls, we only need to make five. And staff can be confident that every single family member got exactly the same information at exactly the same time."

Improve Staff Engagement With Family

This not only streamlines the communication process but also helps to build confidence among the staff, who can now navigate these conversations with a clear and consistent framework.

"They'll be able to know that when they do communicate to that family as a group, they all get that same information and they step through that information," Annie said. "So they're not feeling nervous or shy about that communication because they've been stepped through that process."

Interoperability With Care Management Systems

The integration of Brenna with Good Shepherd Lodge's existing care management system, LeeCare, further enhances the benefits of the platform. By automatically generating progress notes in LeeCare, Brenna helps the organisation to demonstrate compliance with the strengthened aged care standards, a critical requirement in the industry.

"It helps us in terms of showing that we meet the strength and standards, and it also helps us just on the human level, communicating with the people we need to communicate and doing it well," Annie said.

As the aged care industry continues to evolve, the need for effective communication tools that can bridge cultural and linguistic divides has never been more important. By implementing Brenna, Good Shepherd Lodge Limited is not only improving the confidence and communication skills of its staff but also enhancing the overall care experience for residents and their families.

Contact Us

Are you ready to break free from the stress and overwhelm of communicating with family members? Call us for more information on 0483 909 157 or schedule a demonstration with us today.