Focus Priorities
Our Focus Priorities
We know that our health and wellbeing needs are unique to us in Te Hiku ō Te Ika, and that’s how we approached our mahi when we were shaping up how we were going to change with the tide.
After gathering rich and diverse kōrero from our Te Hiku communities, we have set our Focus Priorities for 2023-2026.
They are:
1. Whare Āhuru I Housing
2. Hauora I Primary Care and Access
3. Taitamariki Mental Health and Wellbeing
4. Whānau Ora I Māmā and Pēpi
Whare Āhuru I Housing
Our whānau across all age groups identified whare āhuru (housing) as the number one target priority. Housing has been at crisis point in the Taikorihi catchment area for a long time, and this is now at all levels—home ownership, rentals, social and emergency housing included. Our whānau want healthy, stable and secure homes and we need to achieve transformative and fundamental change in this space to influence one of the key determinants of whānau health and wellbeing.
Taitamariki Mental Health and Wellbeing
In Taikorihi, Māori are the youngest and fastest growing population, and this is a trend reflected in national data. Likewise, mental health is an area of ever-growing need as Te Ao Hurihuri presents more stressors than ever before. Given the demographic nature of Māori and increased mental pressures for our youth, we believe it is imperative that taitamariki are fully engaged in their world and afforded all opportunities to grow thriving future populations. We believe taitamariki represent the hope of not only Māori, but Aotearoa as a whole.
Hauora I Primary Care and Access
Primary care and access in Te Hiku emerged as a key theme in the whānau kōrero, as did continuity of care, quality of care, availability of services, attitudes in the health system, and other fundamental systems issues. In a high deprivation area with limited services and high rates of specific, long-term health conditions, cost, travel and the lack of a coordinated, integrated system were identified as key barriers to whānau that need to be removed with urgency.
Whānau Ora I Māmā & Pēpi
We know that in order to create meaningful, intergenerational change to redress some of our historic inequities, we need to place emphasis on supporting on the core whānau unit, particularly Māmā and Pēpi. We believe that the years from 0-5 is a formative time in a person’s life and we will be working towards creating a stable foundation and communities of support for our whānau raising pēpi in Te Hiku, with a focus on preventative and sustainable approaches.