Far North youths leading the way with He Taura programme

He Taura for 2024 are, clockwise from back left, Liva Christie, Watene McKay, Noah McBirney-Warnes, Tereana Ihakara, Allegra Austen-Reid, the Moko Foundation’s Ariana Smith, Annalys Riddle, Mereana Thomas, Te Manea McKay, Whare Christie, and Torenze Tahere

A sea change bringing better health and wellbeing outcomes for Far North youths is on the horizon as a group of young leaders at the forefront of health reforms reconvenes for the year.

Since last August, He Taura – a rangatahi leadership group of 12 young people – has been meeting under the mentorship of the Moko Foundation to scope and design hauora solutions for taitamariki living in the area extending from north Hokianga to Doubtless Bay to Cape Reinga.

And the group has already had three initiatives accepted by Whatu Ora aimed at getting Far North youths more engaged in sport, rangatahi leadership development and health services in kura kaupapa Māori.

The group is part of the wider Taikorihi Locality initiative – one of several population health prototypes nationwide set up under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 to influence and inform the future investment of public health in New Zealand.

The Moko Foundation Health Research Co-Ordinator Conor Watene-O’Sullivan said the group underwent an eight-week design sprint last year, which involved surveying over 100 of their peers on accessibility to healthcare, mental health supports and suggestions for improved services in Te Hiku.

Analysis of the results, coupled with previous taitamariki research, has seen the group’s recommendations accepted by Te Whatu Ora to roll out three initiatives across Te Hiku this year that will address the accessibility and availability of taitamariki sports, rangatahi leadership development and health services in kura kaupapa Māori.

Watene-O’Sullivan said the opportunity for Te Hiku communities and providers to work more closely with Te Whatu Ora and deliver locally designed solutions under Taikorihi is enabling young people to be heard amidst the noise of the current health landscape.

“We no longer see this top-down approach, whereby ministry and the government would set the agenda and allocate the funding that traditionally would have gone to DHBs or PHOs or other agencies, with our providers and whānau at the bottom reacting to the wider system.

“With a mechanism like Taikorihi, we can now collect the whānau voice, we can set the agenda, and we can leverage the top hierarchical policy makers to respond to the needs of our whānau,” he said.

The initiatives are in varying stages of development, and the Taikorihi model will see He Taura work with lead Te Hiku contract providers to deliver initiatives this year.

The Moko Foundation will be delivering a rangatahi leadership and mentorship programme with most of last year’s He Taura members and the addition of a few more. The programme aims to build on what has already been established within the group and will see them exposed to more networking and personal and professional development opportunities.

Addressing the participation rates of young people in sports will be the priority outcome of the rangatahi sports and wellbeing programme, being led out by Native Sports.

He Taura member Mereana Thomas, 19, said young people in Te Hiku benefit most from participating in physical exercise and holistic lifestyles, but the positive outcomes don’t stop in the immediate term.

The final initiative to be piloted is Hauora in Kura – a project to re-introduce health services into kura kaupapa Māori with Navilluso Medical.

Taikorihi programme manager JJ Ripikoi said the fact that He Taura was able to canvass over 100 peers over a brief period and analyse the data to arrive at three initiatives to test is a sign of the times.

“We can’t afford to lose time. The reason Taikorihi chose to focus on initiatives that addressed the mental wellness of taitamariki in Te Hiku is because our whānau told us it was a matter of urgency. These three initiatives are designed by young people for young people. I think they will go a long way towards establishing some preventative measures we can build on in Te Hiku that will help turn the tide towards better health outcomes for our whānau,” Ripikoi said.

For more information on Taikorihi and the Pae Ora health reforms taking place in Te Hiku, visit www.taikorihi.co.nz