He Korowai Oranga - Māori Health Strategy

Full text version

Date of Publication: November 2002 It is also available as a PDF file to download or print.
Download He Korowai Oranga as a PDF file

---

He Korowai Oranga: Whānau Ora

Emphasising whānau health and wellbeing

The overall aim of He Korowai Oranga is whānau ora: Māori families supported to achieve their maximum health and wellbeing.

whānau (kuia, koroua, pakeke, rangatahi and tamariki) is recognised as the foundation of Māori society. As a principal source of strength, support, security and identity, wha nau plays a central role in the wellbeing of Māori individually and collectively.

The use of the term whānau in this document is not limited to traditional definitions but recognises the wide diversity of families represented within Māori communities. It is up to each whānau and each individual to define for themselves who their whānau is.


Outcomes sought for whānau

The outcomes sought for whānau include:

• whānau experience physical, spiritual, mental and emotional health and have control over their own destinies
• whānau members live longer and enjoy a better quality of life
• whānau members (including those with disabilities) participate in te ao Māori and wider New Zealand society.

These outcomes are more likely where:

• whānau are cohesive, nurturing and safe
• whānau are able to give and receive support
• whānau have a secure identity, high self-esteem, confidence and pride
• whānau have the necessary physical, social and economic means to participate fully and to provide for their own needs
• whānau live, work and play in safe and supportive environments.

He Korowai Oranga asks the health and disability sectors to recognise the interdependence of people, that health and wellbeing are influenced and affected by the ‘collective’ as well as the individual, and the importance of working with people in their social contexts, not just with their physical symptoms.

Whānau ora is a strategic tool for the health and disability sector, as well as for other government sectors, to assist them to work together with iwi, Māori providers and Māori communities and whānau to increase the life span of Māori, improve their health and quality of life, and reduce disparities with other New Zealanders.


He Korowai Oranga: setting a new direction for Māori health

He Korowai Oranga sets a new direction for Māori health development over the next 10 years, building on the gains made over the past decade.


Committed to the Treaty of Waitangi

The Government is committed to fulfilling the special relationship between iwi and the Crown under the Treaty of Waitangi. The principles of Partnership, Participation and Protection (derived from the Royal Commission on Social Policy) will continue to underpin that relationship, and are threaded throughout He Korowai Oranga.

Partnership


Participation


Protection


Improving Māori health and reducing inequalities

As a population group, Māori have on average the poorest health status of any ethnic group in New Zealand. This is not acceptable. The Government and the Ministry of Health have made it a key priority to reduce health inequalities that affect Māori. If Māori are to live longer, have healthier lives, and fulfil their potential to participate in New Zealand society, then the factors that cause inequalities in health need to be addressed.

The factors that lead to poor health status are complex. Across New Zealand, people with lower incomes suffer more ill health, but Māori whānau at all educational, occupational and income levels have poorer health status than non-Māori. The challenge is for New Zealand to identify and address the factors that cause inequalities.

Addressing these issues requires other sectors as well as the health sector to understand the impact of their activities on health, and for the whole of the government sector to work with Ma¯ori to address these issues.


The New Zealand Health Strategy and the New Zealand Disability Strategy

The New Zealand Health Strategy and the New Zealand Disability Strategy are the Government’s platform for action on health and disability, including Māori health. The strategies’ principles, goals, objectives, action and service priorities for improving the health and disability of New Zealanders are all relevant to improving Māori health.

He Korowai Oranga expands the principles and objectives for Māori in both strategies and takes them to the next stage by providing more detail on how Māori health objectives will be achieved. At the same time, He Korowai Oranga exists in its own right.

He Korowai Oranga also sets the direction for Māori health in other service or population-group strategies, including the Primary Health Care Strategy, the Health of Older People Strategy and the Public Health Strategy.


He Korowai Oranga: kaupapa

The kaupapa (purpose) behind He Korowai Oranga is twofold.

Affirming Māori approaches: The strategy strongly supports Māori holistic models and wellness approaches to health and disability. It will also tautoko, or support, Māori in their desire to improve their own health.

He Korowai Oranga seeks to support Māori-led initiatives to improve the health of whānau, hapū and iwi. The strategy recognises that the desire of Māori to have control over their future direction is a strong motivation for Māori to seek their own solutions and to manage their own services.

Improving Māori outcomes: Achieving this will mean a gradual reorientation of the way that Māori health and disability services are planned, funded and delivered in New Zealand. Government, District Health Boards (DHBs) and the health and disability sector will continue to have a responsibility to deliver improved health services for Māori, which will improve Māori outcomes.


He Korowai Oranga: a living strategy

He Korowai Oranga is a living strategy, which will continue to be refined and evaluated over time to address the needs of whānau, hapū, iwi and Māori communities.

A separate Māori Health Action Plan, Whakatātaka, accompanies He Korowai Oranga. The plan outlines the first two to three years of implementation and specifies the roles, responsibilities, performance expectations, measures and initiatives for achieving the strategy. Whakatātaka will be regularly updated to take into account progress towards the strategy.


The structure

In setting out to achieve whānau ora, He Korowai Oranga has two broad directions which acknowledge the partnership between Māori and the Crown. Within the context of these two broad directions, three key themes are woven throughout the strategy. Finally, four pathways set out how whānau ora will be achieved.

He Korowai Oranga works like this.




Each part of He Korowai Oranga is explained in the following sections.

previous

contents

next