In the first years of work for physiotherapist Kiri James, she recognised difficulties communicating with elderly Greek patients, and found access to interpreters at times quite difficult. And although as a professional in the health industry, she found ways to combat this, usually by asking their family, but there wasn’t one steady resource that she could use.
Because of this, Ms James developed The Greek Book – Translations for Aged Care.
The A4 130 paged book features commonly used phrases and phrases specific to the health industry for carers of the elderly Greek speaking patients. The illustrated pictures are in clear black and white and feature the words or phrases in Greek, English and phonetically for the carer.
The book will feature phrases such as: ‘Are you comfortable?’ ‘Do you need to go to the toilet?’ ‘Are you hungry?’ ‘You are in hospital.’ ‘Shall I call your family?’ ‘Are you cold?’ ‘It’s time for bed.’ ‘It’s time for exercise’ and so forth.
“The book has chapters that cover each domain of care or follows the day of a person in a residential care setting or hospital facility,” explains writer and developer Ms James, “but it’s definitely not meant to replace the need for interpreters – it’s meant to get you by when an interpreter or someone who speaks Greek isn’t available.”
Ms James says one of the real problems when working in aged care that she faced was when a Greek speaking person was admitted at the end of the day, and the interpreters had gone home, she found it hard to communicate with them at such a crucial moment.
“I just wanted to introduce myself and explain to them where they are and what’s happening, even before the family have gotten there, when there is nobody else at all to speak Greek. It’s nice just to have a few words and create a bit of a rapport.”
The book aims to bridge the gap for the carer and the elderly person till they are able to speak with an interpreter.
“I see it as something to bridge the gap and even to highlight the need for interpreters,” explains Ms James.
Because the book is spiral bound, carers are able to photocopy specific pages for their clients. It can also be easily shared on a ward or in a facility so only one copy is needed.
The Greek Book – Translations for Aged Care will be available online at sheridanhouse.com.au for $39.95. For more information contact Ms James on 0420 332 901.