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A whānau-centred programme to support young parents in need of extra help has been launched in Rotorua.
Tiaki Whānau, in Lakes DHB area, is the first of three pilots announced in Budget 2019's $10 million Mental Wellbeing Package to help young parents and their whanau for the first three yearsof the baby's life.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Minister of Health Andrew Little and Seniors Associate Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall attended the launch at Rotorua's Tūnohopū Marae.
Ardern paid respect to those who had worked for decades to make the programme possible, saying it had "many authors".
"It would've been close to 10 years ago that I first began venturing into the work around child wellbeing," Ardern said.
"My time as a young person living in Murupara, in the 1980s, gave me a passion for wanting to make sure that every child in New Zealand had what I had as a child growing up.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaking at the launch of Tiaki Whānau at Rotorua's Tūnohopū Marae. Photo / Andrew Warner
"When I came into politics I was absolutely determined that I wanted to work on child wellbeing issues. All the research and evidence showed us what Māori have always known: support mother, support child, support whānau and that is the foundation for everything."
Tiaki Whānau will support each whānau with a kaitiaki who may be a Well Child Tamariki Ora nurse, kaiawhina or social worker, supported by a multidisciplinary team, starting in pregnancy.
The support may be health care, mental health support, help with social services or education, or helping whānau learn about parenting and child development.
Ardern said versions of the programme rolled out around the country before had increased things such as breast feeding and immunisation.
"What we want to see is essentially those kinds of indicators which show really good connections between families and all of the services that should be available to them.
"Ultimately what we're looking for is improved wellbeing of the whole whānau. If young people get the support they need in their role as parents, this leads to better outcomes for their children and the wider community."
Minister of Health Andrew Little said the pilots were based on a trial in Hawke's Bay in 2011.
"It was clear that this approach could have positive outcomes for young parents around the country," he said.
Lakes DHB was one of three sites chosen for a pilot, he said, because it had a high proportion of young parents, Māori and Pacific whānau, and whānau with high socioeconomic needs.
The Ministry of Health had provided funding for Lakes DHB to engage Well Child Tamariki Ora service provider Manaaki Ora Tipu Ora, to deliver culturally appropriate, whānau-based care for up to 40 whānau in the area.
Papakura general practitioner Dr Jacqueline Allan was one of the members of the Women's Health League which founded Tipu Ora, in 1989, the Māori mother and child health programme. Photo /Andrew Warner
Papakura general practitioner Dr Jacqueline Allan was one of the members of the Women's Health League, which founded Tipu Ora, in 1989, the Māori mother and child health programme that was expanded into Whānau Ora.
Allan said she would like the Tiaki Whānau programme rolled out throughout the country.
"If we look after our babies and look after the young mums and dads who are caring for them, those problems won't happen down the line.
"We can do it our way, we know how to do it. It's not something that the Government or traditional medicine can do, it has to be done at the base. It's got to be done by our experienced Māori mums and grandmothers who understand the families and the communities they come from."
Two pilots planned in Counties Manukau DHB and Hauora Tairāwhiti are expected to get under way early next year.
The outcomes of the pilots will be evaluated and become part of the Well Child Tamariki Ora programme.
