Age Concern in need of government funding to increase services for Asian seniors

Asian seniors need culturally appropriate support, Age Concern says, and it is struggling to get government funding to help.

Age Concern chief executive Kevin Lamb said as the number of people over the age of 65 was expected to double in the next 15 years, a significant portion of them would be Asian and requiring culturally appropriate support.

Current mainstream services largely catered for an English speaking population, and had been hard to navigate for Asian seniors, Lamb said.

Asian seniors experienced similar challenges as the general population, but often struggled to access services due to language barriers and their unfamiliarity with New Zealand, he said.

Age Concern’s Asian Services Team in Auckland, which has been running for five years, had seen a doubling of demand over the past year, Lamb said, with about 18,000 interactions with Asian seniors over a six month period.

While there were programmes promoting socialising amongst Asian seniors within their communities, Lamb said there was still a lack of services for those needing help with accommodation, dementia and domestic abuse.

Neglect and abuse of older people was another area which highlighted the need the for more appropriate intervention and understanding.

“We know that historically there’s been terrible under-reporting of cases of abuse and neglect amongst older Asian people, because it wasn’t something that was culturally familiar as a concept,” Lamb said.

“And the way it was communicated wasn’t culturally appropriate for that community.”

Some East Asian seniors have reached out for help through WeChat, Age Concern says.
Photo: 123RF

Since setting up a social media channel on WeChat and Kakao talk to reach some East Asian seniors, Lamb said they had been receiving an increasing number of referrals from people who need help.

But resourcing remained a challenge for their Asian Services Team, which was mostly made up of part-time staff and volunteers.

As the team aimed to expand its service scope to reach more people outside of Auckland and to do more research about the needs of South Asian seniors, it was running into a funding issue.

Lamb said they had been referred from one government department to another as they tried to secure funding.

“It’s never quite clear within government, as to which department is responsible.

“And so the common conversation we have with government departments is that they’re very receptive, they recognize the need and then they’ll suggest we might want to talk to another government department.”

There should be dedicated funding for a growing Asian seniors cohort, Lamb said.

“There should be a budget line in government that says the Asian community is sizeable, it is ageing at a considerable rate … [and] there are challenges around language and culture that needs to be addressed”.

Minister for Seniors Dr Ayesha Verrall.
Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

Minister for Seniors Dr Ayesha Verrall said she was concerned to hear about the reports of lack of appropriate services for older Asian people.

She said there would be a review of the Aged Care Service and Funding model, to ensure culturally appropriate aged care services for all people.

Verrall said they would continue to look for methods to improve the healthcare of all New Zealanders, especially those who had not historically received services that met their needs.

She did not comment on whether the government would set out a budget for services for seniors from the Asian and ethnic communities.