A study by Margit (Meg) Polacsek
>>> DOWNLOAD MEG'S POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
In 2014, Meg undertook a study as part of her Masters degree in Health Science (Aged Services), at the College of Arts, Victoria University.
Meg cites that “Australia has one of the highest overseas-born populations in the world. Many years of migration have shaped its cultural and linguistic diversity, with migrants from all parts of the world contributing to Australian society, culture and prosperit ... At 30 June 2013, almost a third of the Australian population was born overseas.”
Her interest in Aged Care led her to investigate more specifically, what it meant for members of the ‘culturally and linguistically diverse’ population – referred to by the Department of Health and Ageing as ‘CALD’ population – to grow old in a country that is not the country of their birth, and for many is to some extent at least, a foreign country. Meg decided on a small, qualitative study of seven men and eight women, all of them German born.
>>> DOWNLOAD MEG'S POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
In 2014, Meg undertook a study as part of her Masters degree in Health Science (Aged Services), at the College of Arts, Victoria University.
Meg cites that “Australia has one of the highest overseas-born populations in the world. Many years of migration have shaped its cultural and linguistic diversity, with migrants from all parts of the world contributing to Australian society, culture and prosperit ... At 30 June 2013, almost a third of the Australian population was born overseas.”
Her interest in Aged Care led her to investigate more specifically, what it meant for members of the ‘culturally and linguistically diverse’ population – referred to by the Department of Health and Ageing as ‘CALD’ population – to grow old in a country that is not the country of their birth, and for many is to some extent at least, a foreign country. Meg decided on a small, qualitative study of seven men and eight women, all of them German born.
“By 2026, Germany was projected to be the fifth most common country of origin for older people from CALD backgrounds, with a high growth rate in the 80-and-over age group”, Meg found. Although, aged care services are paying more attention to and are trying to accommodate the needs of ageing migrants from diverse background, “little is known about how these people experience ageing.”
Meg’ aim was to understand the participants’
Meg found that this group of people had
“The presence of immigrants in Australian research was largely ignored between the Second World War and 1960s. Migrants were expected to be invisible and assimilate into the dominant society as quickly and as fully as possible
This sense of belonging is consistent with reports that ‘German immigrants settled into suburbia very quickly and quietly, becoming ‘invisible’ by their conformity to established Australian norms.”
The findings of Meg’s study will not be much of a surprise to this group of people. One has to “bear in mind that German migrants were often reasonably well educated, may have learned English at school, and also felt a stronger need to adjust to the local culture than some other groups of migrants.” While other studies on ageing migrant populations have shown that poor English language skills lead to significant communication problems, Meg’s participants reported that “they did not necessarily NEED support or services in German, but that they very much valued having the choice of German support.”
But it is not only the ability communicate comfortably in the language of the host country, which determines how well one ages in country that is not the birth country. The experience of migration has to be considered as well as the culture which is an integral part of the human being.
The Australian Government’s Living Longer. Living Better aged care reform package (2012), “recognises that the backgrounds of older people seeking support are increasingly diverse, and highlights the need for aged care services to be sensitive to the different needs and preferences of service recipients.”
In reality, this means too that people who claim the German nationality, do not necessarily have the same history, rituals – even language. Consider how many dialects there are spoken throughout Germany! And with each dialect, each different state, even municipality, cultural habits change. From one area to the next, Germans celebrate different festivals; wear different national costumes; eat different food and drink different wine or beer! Our customs vary vastly!
This means that
“Cultural homogeneity” cannot be assumed anymore than that “members of the same ethnic group organise their health and social care in the same way, and that their cultural principles are monolithic.”
Personally, I love the following quote in Meg’s study “... culture is not a shopping cart that comes to us already loaded ... rather, we construct culture by picking and choosing items ... of the past and the present.”
Overall, Meg’s study compliments what we have discovered in the course of the exhibition and through talking to many different migrants: that our early years of life, the impressions and experiences which we gather determine our make-up, the sort of person we become. While we do not remain essentially ‘German’, we do not become exclusively ‘Australian’ when we migrate to and live in another country. Rather we add to the basic ingredients that are our self.
As Paul Anders said: “I live with two cultures and take the best of both. I often think of my homeland – in a sense, I’m standing with one foot in Australia and one foot in Germany.” Paul arrived in Australia in 1940, he died in Melbourne in 2010, aged 89 years of age.
* * *
Meg Polacsek received a High Distinction for her minor thesis on the experiences and support needs and preferences of ageing German Australians. She graduated with a Master of Health Sciences in Aged Services from Victoria University. She was the Victoria University Valedictorian in October 2014
She is now starting her PhD, this time looking at the experience of depression in older people. She and her supervising professor are currently preparing an article on this study for the Australasian Journal on Ageing.
Meg has worked as a personal carer in several different aged care organisations
From her personal experience through her step-grandmother, Emma Polacsek, (who resideds at TTHA) and her experience doing this study, she would like to compliment the TTHA on the quality and integrity of its services and staff – exceptional in the aged care industry.
She would like to acknowledge the very valuable assistance of the TTHA, in particular Karin Schwarz and Ricci Jagusch-Rammanhor, who were a great help in identifying participants for the study.
Several participants either lived in a TTHA facility or received community support from the TTHA – their views and feedback on TTHA were overwhelmingly positive.
Meg’s contact details are available, if anyone would like to know more about this study or contact her about her next study.
Meg’ aim was to understand the participants’
- circumstances of migration
- their sense of identity and culture
- current and future support need and preferences
Meg found that this group of people had
- adapted well to the Australian culture and way of life
- generally a high proficiency in the English language
- no difficulty sourcing and engaging services (unlike other ageing Australian migrants who find language a barrier)
- little need to rely on their families to identify, negotiate and manage services
“The presence of immigrants in Australian research was largely ignored between the Second World War and 1960s. Migrants were expected to be invisible and assimilate into the dominant society as quickly and as fully as possible
This sense of belonging is consistent with reports that ‘German immigrants settled into suburbia very quickly and quietly, becoming ‘invisible’ by their conformity to established Australian norms.”
The findings of Meg’s study will not be much of a surprise to this group of people. One has to “bear in mind that German migrants were often reasonably well educated, may have learned English at school, and also felt a stronger need to adjust to the local culture than some other groups of migrants.” While other studies on ageing migrant populations have shown that poor English language skills lead to significant communication problems, Meg’s participants reported that “they did not necessarily NEED support or services in German, but that they very much valued having the choice of German support.”
But it is not only the ability communicate comfortably in the language of the host country, which determines how well one ages in country that is not the birth country. The experience of migration has to be considered as well as the culture which is an integral part of the human being.
The Australian Government’s Living Longer. Living Better aged care reform package (2012), “recognises that the backgrounds of older people seeking support are increasingly diverse, and highlights the need for aged care services to be sensitive to the different needs and preferences of service recipients.”
In reality, this means too that people who claim the German nationality, do not necessarily have the same history, rituals – even language. Consider how many dialects there are spoken throughout Germany! And with each dialect, each different state, even municipality, cultural habits change. From one area to the next, Germans celebrate different festivals; wear different national costumes; eat different food and drink different wine or beer! Our customs vary vastly!
This means that
- Older migrants need to be understood before they can be engaged
- Detailed studies of specific birthplaces or ethnic groups add to an understanding of the needs of different migrant groups
- A life course approach to acquiring the language of the host country may benefit migrants to later negotiate and use aged care services .
“Cultural homogeneity” cannot be assumed anymore than that “members of the same ethnic group organise their health and social care in the same way, and that their cultural principles are monolithic.”
Personally, I love the following quote in Meg’s study “... culture is not a shopping cart that comes to us already loaded ... rather, we construct culture by picking and choosing items ... of the past and the present.”
Overall, Meg’s study compliments what we have discovered in the course of the exhibition and through talking to many different migrants: that our early years of life, the impressions and experiences which we gather determine our make-up, the sort of person we become. While we do not remain essentially ‘German’, we do not become exclusively ‘Australian’ when we migrate to and live in another country. Rather we add to the basic ingredients that are our self.
As Paul Anders said: “I live with two cultures and take the best of both. I often think of my homeland – in a sense, I’m standing with one foot in Australia and one foot in Germany.” Paul arrived in Australia in 1940, he died in Melbourne in 2010, aged 89 years of age.
* * *
Meg Polacsek received a High Distinction for her minor thesis on the experiences and support needs and preferences of ageing German Australians. She graduated with a Master of Health Sciences in Aged Services from Victoria University. She was the Victoria University Valedictorian in October 2014
She is now starting her PhD, this time looking at the experience of depression in older people. She and her supervising professor are currently preparing an article on this study for the Australasian Journal on Ageing.
Meg has worked as a personal carer in several different aged care organisations
From her personal experience through her step-grandmother, Emma Polacsek, (who resideds at TTHA) and her experience doing this study, she would like to compliment the TTHA on the quality and integrity of its services and staff – exceptional in the aged care industry.
She would like to acknowledge the very valuable assistance of the TTHA, in particular Karin Schwarz and Ricci Jagusch-Rammanhor, who were a great help in identifying participants for the study.
Several participants either lived in a TTHA facility or received community support from the TTHA – their views and feedback on TTHA were overwhelmingly positive.
Meg’s contact details are available, if anyone would like to know more about this study or contact her about her next study.
