Cultural Competency

This report is the product of a series of activities conducted by the Diverse Elders Coalition and its members’ organizations, and in partnership with the National Alliance for Caregiving, to better understand and highlight the lived experiences of diverse family caregivers for older adults.

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Both inside and outside the foster care system, American Indian and Alaska Native children are more likely to live in grandfamilies—families in which grandparents, other adult family members or close family friends are raising children with no parents in the home—than any other racial or ethnic group. Over the last few decades, drug epidemics, natural disasters and other tragedies have both created grandfamilies and challenged existing ones. The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest crisis to have elevated the needs of these families, and in particular the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native families, who are being disproportionally impacted by the pandemic. The rates of infection and death are staggering. For example, as of early May 2020 in the Navajo Nation, the mortality and infection rates are higher than the vast majority of states. This toolkit is designed to give resources and tips to child welfare agencies, other government agencies and nonprofit organizations, so they can better serve all American Indian and Alaska Native grandfamilies regardless of child welfare involvement. It will explore some unique strengths and challenges of these grandfamilies, which agencies and organizations need to recognize in order to provide culturally appropriate supportive services.

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rican American children will live in grandfamilies is more than double that of the overall population, with one in five African American children living in grandfamilies at some point during their childhood. agencies, other government agencies and nonprofit organizations, so they can better serve all African American grandfamilies. It will explore some of the unique strengths and challenges of these grandfamilies, which agencies and organizations need to recognize in order to provide culturally appropriate supportive services.

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It is important to engage Hispanics in health services as they age to promote health and wellbeing; reduce health disparities; and prevent social isolation, injury due to falls, and the development of chronic conditions. These engagement strategies must meet individuals where they are and provide information in a way that is easy to understand and relates to their cultural values and norms.

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California’s vision of equity in aging is to transform every person’s older years into their golden years. To achieve this vision, the California Department of Aging (CDA) works to ensure that all Californians have access to opportunities and services to age how and where we choose - regardless of age, disability, race, ethnicity, immigration status, religion/faith, income, geography, sexual orientation, gender identity, language, or family status. CDA’s programs, planning, and partnerships aim to do the following:

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An open-source map of New York City’s current and projected population age 65 and older, IMAGE: NYC provides overlays of available resources, services, and amenities. Designed for government agencies, elected officials, health care and social service providers, planners, funders, and researchers, IMAGE:NYC is a critical tool to support funding, planning, advocacy and direct services.

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Older adults have been identified as a group that should receive vaccines as soon as possible. As has been widely reported in the media, the risk of death and severe illness from COVID-19 increases with age. In fact, older adults are more likely to experience severe illness from the disease, and roughly 8 out of every 10 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. occur among this age group.

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Most older adults would prefer to live out their golden years in the comfort of their homes. This population continues to grow more diverse – by 2060, Hispanic Americans are projected to make up 21% of the entire older adult population.1 For Hispanic/Latino elders, there are unique challenges to safely aging in place including managing multiple chronic diseases, language barriers, difficulty navigating the US health care system, minimal financial resources to meet the needs that come with aging at home, receiving sufficient support for family caregivers, and maintaining important connections with loved ones. As this population grows, it will become even more important for service providers to understand how to meet these needs.

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Healthy eating in the modern world is not always easy. Fast food and prepackaged foods offer inexpensive and easy alternatives to healthier foods or cooking from scratch. Even in remote locations, you can count on finding snacks like burgers, chips, candies, and sodas. But these kinds of foods can be harmful to our health in the long run.

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This guide is intended to help healthcare professionals better understand how to engage in conversations with older Hispanic adults about ACP. It will help healthcare professionals identify the different types of ACP documentation, who can start the conversation, cultural considerations with assisting Hispanic older adults with ACP, tips and strategies for starting the conversation, and other resources.

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