wh nau ora update - ministry of healthnau ora update no. 26 – september 2014...
TRANSCRIPT
Whānau Ora Update
Kia ora tatou, In this issue we spend some time with the DHB and collectives in the Bay of Plenty region. Check out the conversation with Janet McLean, Janice Kuka and Linda Steel to see what we can learn about teaming up to make an ongoing difference in the communities around us.
And as always, if you have a story or an initiative you’d like to share or learn more about, drop us a line at [email protected]
BOPDHB -‐ Working Alongside Collectives
This month we decided to learn a bit more about what’s going on over in the Bay of Plenty and had the opportunity to spend some time talking with Janet McLean (General Manager Māori Health), Linda Steel (Chairperson, Te Ao Mārama Whānau Ora Collective Trust) and Janice Kuka (Board Member, Ngā Mataapuna Oranga Kaupapa Māori) about how they are working together to see greater health outcomes in their region. “Well, perhaps the first thing to note is that for many of our providers, Whānau Ora is not a new concept,” says Janet McLean. “However, when Te Puni Kōkiri was asked by Minister Turia to implement Whānau Ora, what it did was provide an opportunity to more fully leverage the aim of He Korowai Oranga. “It was an opportunity to really draw out and highlight what was already there. It provided a strong platform to support Whānau Ora Collectives to take a more consistent whānau – centred approach.”
For Janet and the Bay of Plenty DHB team, commissioning a Whānau Ora needs assessment was the first immediate step they took together. “It allowed us to move away from the traditional health needs assessment models and do something that included the broader determinants of health and wellbeing in a region – from employment to education and income, as well as health. We did that together with our Māori providers and it really helped inform all of us in terms of our planning going forward,” Janet adds. Prior to the Te Puni Kōkiri led implementation of Whānau Ora the Bay of Plenty DHB was already beginning to implement a number of initiatives that were well aligned such as moving to an outcomes framework, integrated high trust contracts and Results Based Accountability models. The DHB team also began incorporating information from Māori providers into their thinking and planning and have been including the work and activities of
Whānau Ora Update for District Health Boards
Issue 26 – September 2014
Whānau Ora Update No. 26 – September 2014
collectives in their own reporting since the more formal introduction of Whānau Ora.
Janet McLean – Bay of Plenty District Health Board
“We were doing a lot of stuff but there wasn't a strategic framework to hang it on,” Janet explains. “Whānau Ora provided the opportunity for that and, working with Te Tumu Whakarae, we have now developed a strategic framework. We’ve also drawn on the work of other DHBs and those, such as Taranaki DHB and Dr Mihi Ratama, who were further along than we were. None of us are working in isolation.” Representing Te Ao Mārama Whānau Ora collective, Linda Steel echoes these themes: “It’s about working face to face with each other – building a strong relationship so we can drive this together in our region.” Janice Kuka reinforces this theme further: “For Ngā Mataapuna Oranga the key element of any success is always the relationships. “What Whānau Ora did was it gave us a real licence, perhaps for the first time, to work in the way we believed would start
addressing not only health but other domains. For the first time ever we began to see a contractual focus on more than just diseases…beginning to look at the initiatives that strengthen whānau such as housing, employment and training. It’s given us the licence to work in the holistic way we always wanted to. We’ve never had that before.” Thinking about where she sees things going from here, Linda adds, “As we move into the next phase of Whānau Ora, I see us working more collectively with Māori planning and funding. It’s the same kaupapa – we have different perspectives at times and there can be tensions but that’s healthy. In the end, we want the same thing. I see us increasingly working together with the DHB towards that.” Janice adds, “At the heart of this, it’s about working to a Whānau Ora kaupapa and paradigm. If we keep that at the heart of it, no matter where you sit, that gives you the common ground to work through any tensions and differences.” Janet also reinforces these thoughts from the DHB’s perspective: “What Whānau Ora has enabled all of us to do is to move out of that silo mentality. “As a funder it requires us to work with other funders, other providers, and with the community. We talk about alliancing and all sitting around the table to agree what the needs are and what outcomes we need to pursue. It’s a much more meaningful set of conversations than simply focusing on inputs and outputs. “The move to high-‐trust, integrated contracts makes a lot of sense. We’re all working with and contracting and auditing the same providers. These much smarter approaches are allowing us to focus our energy on the whānau and the children rather than managing contracts and outputs. It’s really good,” Janet adds.
Whānau Ora Update No. 26 – September 2014
In addition to reinforcing and providing a legitimate platform for much more widely leveraging what was already underway, Janice, Janet and Linda also talked about some of the new steps they are seeing as a result of Whānau Ora. “One of the key things in my view is the Whānau Plans and the process of planning with whānau,” Janice explains. “On one level we’ve all been doing Whānau Ora for a long time but we haven’t been doing the planning with whānau like this. That’s new and it’s really quite radical. It really prompts whānau to take control of their own life – we’re just the facilitator or navigator for them. “Some of the things that have come up I wouldn’t have thought would be important but for some of the community some unexpected things were really significant. Having a drivers licence was one example. Issues such as employment and addressing domestic violence have been others. They come up through the planning conversations and then we can address it together,” Janice adds. “The systems and the IT are only a tool – we’ve got to keep telling people that. People can view them as magical but they need to see that they are the special resource here. Not the tools, it’s them!”
Janice Kuka -‐ Ngā Mataapuna Oranga Kaupapa Māori
Linda adds, “For Te Ao Mārama Whānau Ora collective, moving into the Results Based Accountability approach enabled everyone to get on the same page because of the questions and kōrero they needed to work through together as we did our planning and, later, reporting. The light really came on for us during those conversations – the tools and the framework were a great prompt for that.”
Linda Steel -‐ Te Ao Mārama Whānau Ora Collective Trust
Janet agrees, “Tools help but having shared vision, shared values, and a shared framework to apply them in is what makes it powerful. That is where something like the Results Based Accountability approach is really helpful. Even a little provider in a small rural community can see where they can make a contribution to that. We all have a role to play.” Asked what advice they’d give to other DHBs, providers and collectives, Linda adds, “Keep talking to one another. Keep the korero going -‐ even when there are tensions around. We all see things differently at times – there will be tensions and this isn’t a bad thing. But keep in mind that at the forefront of everything is our whānau and our community. That’s why we’re all here. Keep that in perspective and you’ll find common ground together.”
Whānau Ora Update No. 26 – September 2014
Janice adds, “As collectives we have to be very clear about that – policies come and go. Providers change and politics change. Even iwi politics change. But people remain – that is why we are here. Never lose sight of that.”
Thanks to Janet, Janice and Linda for taking a moment to chat with us. If you have a story or initiative to share, drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you.
Drop us a line If you have any questions or a story or initiative to share, please drop us a line at [email protected]. In the meantime, ka kite ano and we’ll see you next month.