Hawke's Bay DHB chief executive Keriana Brooking talks about work being done to address the widening health gap between Māori and non-Māori tamariki. Photo / RNZ
Hawke's Bay DHB chief executive Keriana Brooking talks about work being done to address the widening health gap between Māori and non-Māori tamariki. Photo / RNZ
The number of young Māori children being hospitalised due to preventable or avoidable illnesses in Hawke's Bay is higher than other ethnicities in the region.
Rates of Māori children aged 0 to 4 being hospitalised for bacterial skin infections such as cellulitis is two-and-a-half times higher than other ethnicities, andthat's just one of many conditions Māori children are suffering from.
Hawke's Bay District Health Board chief executive Keriana Brooking says much work still needs to be done to address inequities in the system between Māori and other ethnicities.
The disparity was brought up in a recent DHB board meeting, during a discussion of Ambulatory Sensitive Admissions [ASH] rates, in which it was noted that the inequity between Māori tamariki and other ethnic groups in this area was actually growing.
ASH rates refer to hospitalisation or death due to causes which could have been avoided by preventative or therapeutic programmes.
Māori tamariki aged up to 4 years make up 52 per cent of all ASH hospitalisations.
Respiratory conditions make up 55.5 per cent of all ASH hospital cases and this is the same proportion for Māori tamariki.
Last year a pilot programme was introduced within the hospital and community setting to better support tamariki 0-4 and whānau presenting with respiratory illness. Photo / Warren Buckland
Brooking said significant work was happening within the ASH space.
"Last year, a pilot programme was introduced within the hospital and community setting to better support tamariki 0-4 and whānau presenting with respiratory illness," she said.
"The DHB is working closely with primary care, particularly practices with high Māori and Pacific enrolments, as well as pharmacies toward providing targeted education and support systems within the communities to prevent readmission.
"Initial indications are it's having an impact, and whānau feedback is positive."
Brooking said the first 1000 days (conception to 2 years of age) was a key focus of the DHB and she was encouraged by initiatives already under way to improve early childhood outcomes.
"Much work still needs to be done, but I am very encouraged by our DHB team's recent and ongoing work within the maternity and respiratory support space for whānau, Maori māmā and pēpē," she said.
In 2018-19, the DHB developed and implemented a new community-based Māori breastfeeding support service via all Well Child Tamariki Ora providers across the region to improve Māori breastfeeding rates, Brooking said.
"Given the positive uptake of this service, opportunities are now being explored to further expand by providing culturally responsive breastfeeding support to new māmā from the ante-natal period through to six months," she said.
"Additionally, a pilot initiative, Tuai Kopu, designed for Māori māmā to support early engagement with a Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) and navigate associated health and social services, is shaping up to be a huge success with meaningful engagement and support benefiting health and wellbeing outcomes of both Maori māmā and their pēpē."
