Hauora Tairāwhiti is proud to introduce Whāriki; a framework to anchor our collective efforts towards a future focussed and aspirational vision in Mental Health and Addictions – Whānau First 2040.
Whāriki is the result of the contributions of the Mental Health and Addiction sector, communities, and whānau to better respond to whānau seeking help and to focus our efforts on what matters most to whānau “a meaningful life where everyone feels connected and worthy, where everyone has a purpose to get up in the morning”. The purpose is to ensure whānau experience one system of care and ‘consistent standards of behaviour’ irrespective of who is providing support.
In 2021, we presented Whāriki to the broader public sector and communities. The response has strengthened our confidence and resolve that we are on the right track. It reinforced a call for dedicated focus on whānau and communities at risk, in distress, who need help. This includes a number of whānau who do not access support for new or existing conditions until they have escalated to crisis levels. Some feedback suggests an incorrect view is present, in different parts of the sector and communities, that improving response to under-served communities will take away from other communities who currently receive quality health care services. This is a concern. We have a shared responsibility to address the fact that we have whānau and communities in Te Tairāwhiti who are not receiving quality health care and have limited choices.
Whāriki is not the sole solution – but offers a platform to leverage off each other’s strengths to invest in local solutions. The shared aim is to give effect to strength-based practice and positively influence the conditions that contribute to whānau and community wellbeing. We now have the key components outlining a shared vision, purpose, and parameters for engagement to work more effectively together on behalf of the whānau and communities we serve. Whāriki will shape what, how, by and for who, services are available. It is an enormous task and one we cannot do alone. We know it will take time and special effort to get all the moving parts to work as one and we have begun.
You can view Whāriki - He Huarahi Ki Mua: A Way Forward here. (pdf)