ANDREW MASTERSON Communications and Media Adviser, North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network
Saying ‘Goodbye COVID’ in a multitude of tongues
Language is so much more than just a set of words.
The region has been the hardest hit in every
It encapsulates entire modes of thought, cultural
wave of infections since the pandemic began.
protocols, and ways of classifying the world and
Large parts of the population are impacted by
everything in it.
several identified risk factors. These include
This means — as any linguist will confirm —
insecure casual employment in high-risk settings
translating messages from one language into
such as distribution centres, large families living
another is much more complex than simply
under single roofs or in social housing, and people
substituting letters.
with chronic health conditions.
And when it comes to encouraging people to
Across state and commonwealth platforms,
take life-saving action by getting vaccinated
vaccination messaging is rolled out overwhelmingly
against COVID-19, the exercise becomes far more
in English. It also takes a broad-brush approach
than academic.
that embodies mainstream cultural norms that are
This was the challenge that faced the
sometimes at odds with the mindsets and belief
communications team of North Western Melbourne
systems of Melbourne’s culturally and linguistically
Primary Health Network (NWMPHN) earlier this
diverse (CALD) communities.
year, when vaccines became available and the push to distribute them began. NWMPHN encompasses 13 Local Government Areas containing more than 1.6 million people.
The need to reach some of these communities was self-evident and urgent. The question of how to do so was a more complex matter. ‘It was critically important that we produced
Around 40% of them were born overseas, and
material that not only resonated with CALD
about the same percentage speak a language
communities, but which set the right tone,’
other than English in the home. Both figures are
explained NWMPHN’s CEO, Chris Carter.
significantly above the Victorian average. The region also contains a very high number of settled refugees and asylum seekers. 32
The Health Advocate • NOVEMBER 2021
‘The message was uniform — get vaccinated to protect your own health and that of your family, friends and community — but the wording was
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