Ageing Wisely for Chinese-Speaking Older Adults: Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Adaptation and Pilot Study

61.8% of older Australians (≥65 years) who speak Chinese (Mandarin Chinese or Cantonese) at home report not speaking English well or at all [Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016]. Research suggests that older Chinese-speaking adults may be at greater risk for depression [Abbott et al., 20032] and anxiety [Lin et al., 2016] relative to older English-speaking adults. Limited English language proficiency can alienate these older adults from accessing mental health services [Hassett, et al., 2002], as well as disrupting their social engagement. Currently there are no evidence-based psychological interventions that target anxiety and depression in Chinese-speaking older adults. Ageing Wisely, developed at Macquarie University, is one of the few evidence-based English-language cognitive behavioural therapy programs for treating late life anxiety and depression [Wuthrich et al., 2013], and it may be a good candidate to adapt for older Chinesespeaking populations. This project brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts in older adult mental health, multilingualism, translation and interpreting to adapt Ageing Wisely for Chinese-speaking older adults with depression and anxiety, with involvement from older Chinese-speaking consumers to optimise culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions. This adapted program will then be implemented with two older Mandarin-speaking adults and two older Cantonese-speaking older adults for early feedback on its cultural appropriateness, feasibility, and acceptability.