How we’re reaching Chinese-speaking family caregivers
This August marked almost a year since we partnered with the Chinese-American Coalition for Compassionate Care (CACCC) to translate our Mindful Family Caregiving course into Chinese. In that year we’ve trained volunteers, translated the course and CACCC have launched the first “Mindful Self-Care for Caregivers” in Chinese. Phew! Below we share more about the process and the outcomes and what’s next.
The need for translation
According to the most recent census data, 21% of the US population speak a language other than English at home. Of these, 12% (7.3 million people) don’t speak English well, or don’t speak it at all. This data, coupled with our own experience supporting caregivers in a linguistically diverse area, made it clear that we needed to start offering our family caregiving support in languages other than English.
In August 2019 we partnered with CACCC to translate our Mindful Family Caregiving course into Chinese and to train Chinese-speaking volunteers to deliver the course. With over 1 million Chinese speakers in California alone, over half of whom feel they speak English “less than well”, we knew this project would be meeting a real need.
The process
The translation process had three main stages.
Stage 1: All volunteers took our Mindful Family Caregiving (in-person) allowing the team to see what elements of the course translated well to Chinese, and which didn’t. (See our original blog to read more about that.)
Stage 2: The team selected which modules to bring into the new Chinese course, and all materials were translated, including lesson plans, support documents and handouts.
Stage 3: Volunteers received more training on Mindful Family Caregiving content and teaching skills which, thanks to COVID-19, was all conducted online via zoom.
Finally, the teaching!
In August 2020, Mindful Self-Care for Caregivers Training was launched. It is an online, 8-week course in Chinese, taught via zoom.
The class reached its max capacity at 12 students, with another course being run in October 2020. Results from the first cohort show that 100% rated the course excellent or very good, and everyone agreed the course would help them use mindfulness in their caregiving, be a better caregiver and feel a greater sense of wellbeing.
During these first courses, the Zen Caregiving Project instructors have been observing the teaching and providing feedback to the volunteers, helping them deliver the highest quality experience and support for course participants.
Looking to 2021 and beyond
Mindful Self-Care for Caregivers is scheduled to run every quarter next year, reaching 50 family caregivers in need. If you are interested in having the course run at your organization, please contact CACCC at info@caccc-usa.org.
Having designed and worked through the translation process with CACCC Zen Caregiving Project would love to work with other partners, particularly Spanish-speaking organizations who would be interested in partnering with us. To find out more, please get in touch by clicking the button below.