Tam’s story: support and education in the Vietnamese community.

I care for my parents-in-law who live with us. This is a very important duty as my husband’s parents helped to care for our children so that we could work. They taught their grandchildren about Vietnamese language and culture. And my children learned about respecting and caring for their elders.

I am very happy there are multicultural services near me and I go to a Vietnamese Carer’s Support Group. In the Vietnamese community they talk, they let me know. This is where I learned more about dementia and what to expect.

They showed us the video called “It’s not disgrace, it’s dementia” and gave us other Dementia Australia resources in our language. I also learned about government services to help people stay in their homes as they grow older and to contact My Aged Care.

My parents-in-law go to a social group every week, and they also learn about different services available. They started using a respite service for two days each week. The service takes them to the doctor, the chemist, or shopping.

It is good for me to have a break but also good for them to get out of the house as they always come home happy. One time they took a trip to Cabramatta where they could speak their language and eat their food. That made them very happy!

If you live together all the time in the house you may get more stressed so it is important to join a group and learn from others in your community.