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Volunteering Northland Pānui Nov 2022 - New Board of Trustees

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 03:54:40 GMT

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The Volunteering Northland AGM took place on 20 October 2022.

A huge welcome to the newly elected Board of Trustees!

Click here to read the full p aanui.

Kaitiaki set on fulfilling her promise

Tue, 03 May 2022 04:22:36 GMT

Northland Age interview with Teresa Hart 3rd May 2022

Rongoā Māori for Pipiwai marae

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 03:34:28 GMT

Te Karere interview 29th April 2022

Rongoa Māori services come back to Tau Henare Marae, Pipiwai in a bid to revive traditional methods of healing amongst Ngāti Hine hapū.

Kotahitanga

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 05:02:24 GMT

About Our Initiative: KOTAHITANGA

To contribute towards transforming Hauora Māori from one of our country’s most significant health risks to one of our most outstanding achievements for the people of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

While targeted at Māori clients/whānau, Rongoā providers work within Māori -centric paradigm of Kaitiakitanga, Kotahitanga, Manaakitanga, Aroha, Tika, and Pono; therefore, services will also be available to and include the people of other cultures who choose these services. This investment will allow for the operational management, implementation and evaluation of the Traditional Rongoā Māori services and programs based in Te Hiku o te Ika and surrounding districts of Te Tai Tokerau.

Rongoā Māori is an informed body of knowledge that has, as its core, the enhancement of Māori wellbeing. In this way, Rongoā Māori differs from a Western medical paradigm, whose focus is primarily the absence of health, wellbeing and treatments/interventions to return to a state of health. Traditional healing is formulated in a Māori cultural context, in which the understanding of events leading to ill health and its impacts are addressed through a range of culturally bounded responses.

These responses include:

Rākau Rongoā (native flora herbal preparations)
Mirimiri (massage)
Karakia (prayer).

There will be a focus on whānau/patients that chose not to attend their clinics or not accessing care from GP services in the community. Priority groups would include:

whānau Māori, who are over 65 years, whānau
members undergoing treatment for cancer and blood conditions
Hapū mama
Frontline health and disability workforce.

The Rongoā māori service delivery model is “Te Kauwae Runga Te Kauwae Raro“, a traditional Tikanga Māori approach to assessment and care planning. The services will be provided in rural and urban community spaces, preferably marae, and outside of clinical settings during regular business hours. However, where requested by the whanau or client deemed safe and appropriate by THMCT, the Rongoā Māori Provider may consider providing services in an alternative environment.

HOW IS THIS INITIATIVE A RESPONSE TO THE ONGOING IMPACT OF COVID-19?

THMCT service objectives respond to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the need to mitigate the impact of external threats to whanau, hapu, Iwi and Māori communities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

THMCT Rongoā Māori providers are deemed Essential Workers, and they are prepared to be frontline, providing services for whānau, hapū and Iwi. They will ascertain data and information on service delivery uptake. THMCT Rongoā Māori Providers will collaborate with broader stakeholders that support the success of their initiatives, particularly Māori organisations, including hapu and iwi authorities, to deliver services that meet the needs of whanau, hapu and Iwi.

Services will be integrated with other associated services as appropriate to ensure continuity of care, considering the intended holistic approach and kaupapa Māori principles. All services will maintain effective linkages with local agencies involved in the Covid-19 response and essential health and disability services delivery.

HOW WILL THIS HELP OUR COMMUNITY?

Of the people, for the people, by the people: He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. Enabling Māori to access culturally appropriate care rooted in Māori values nurtures cultural identity and affirms the legitimacy of mātauranga Māori (Ahuriri-Driscoll, Baker, Hepi & Hudson, 2009).

HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE COMMUNITY SUPPORTS OUR INITIATIVE?

Anecdotal evidence shows that there is high usage of these services by whānau throughout Te Tai Tokerau. Whānau has called for widespread, fully funded Rongoā Māori services to be available and support that by collecting data and information within a Tikanga Māori settings. This will contribute to normalising practices and services, thereby contributing to transforming Hauora Māori from one of our country's most significant health risks to one of our most outstanding achievements for the people of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

In December 2019, the community engagement and consultation phase of the Rongoā Māori Project was completed. Previous wider engagement in 2018/19 with whānau and stakeholders in Te Tai Tokerau brought about their collective vision "Happy whānau, Healthy Whānau, Our Voices are Heard" and a clear call for Rongoā Māori services to be an integral health service pathway. Feedback and areas of prioritisation have been captured in the document "Te Reo o Te Iwi" and subsequently reaffirmed in the Northland DHB Transition Plan, June 2019 - December 2020. One of the service gaps identified by whānau was limited and, in some instances, lack of access to Rongoā Māori services for whānau, hapū and Iwi. This is completely appropriate given the outcome of the Waitangi Tribunal Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry (Wai 2575 claim), which supported claimants critique of the lack of mātauraga Māori in health.

NDHB Te Hiku o Te Ika Pilot Project

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 02:25:58 GMT

Pilot Project - 1st Dec 2020 to 30th Nov 2021

In 2018/19, Northland DHB, former Māori Health general manager Harold Wereta, undertook a number of consultation hui with whānau throughout the rohe. The key question asked was, “How do you see whānau in the future” . The vision from the hui became clear – for whānau to be happy, to be healthy, and to be heard.

The impetus to establish a funded Rongoā Māori service came from an overwhelming call from whānau and the community. While Rongoā Māori is not new, and in fact, a well-practised and well-used kaupapa, having it as an integral, funded health service pathway is new. “Access to Rongoā and tohunga were key planks in Māori society pre-European. However, post Europeanuropean settlement saw the dismantling and outlawing of tohunga and rongoā kaupapa.

For us in Northland returning to those things that were and are important not only to our wellbeing but in Northland, returning to those things that were and are important not only to our well-being but also to our identity is fantastic.

It’s been a privilege to be part of a kaupapa that has seen the Northland DHB structure hear and respond to the voices of whānau Māori, hapū and iwi in Te Tai Tokerau, ” said Marty Rogers, acting general manager of Māori Health.

The Northland DHB partnered with the Rongoā community to co-design the kaupapa across Te Tai Tokerau. Membership of this Rongoā Project group comprised of Taumata Rongoā, who governed and set the vision for the practice, the Ringawhakahaere team who worked hard to make that vision a reality, and Northland DHB and an independent project manager who built the framework for service provision.

The traditional practice of Rongoā Māori encompasses a holistic view of health and wellbeing, incorporating physical, spiritual, psychological and family aspects. The practice is uniquely designed to suit the individual and whānau who come through the doors.

Rongoā Māori clinic opens in Kaitaia Hospital

Wed, 17 Mar 2021 03:24:33 GMT