Whanau first for Kia Puawai

Huia Emery, Nyree Vaka, Wharangi Waetford, Evalyn Berryman and Harata Carlson from Kia Puawai. Absent are Sesilia Te Ao and Margie Epapara. Photo / Stephen Parker

The Kia Puawai Team from Tipu Ora won the award for Best Nursing/Midwifery Innovation in Lakes District Health Board's annual Nursing and Midwifery Awards. Clinical co-ordinator Evalyn Berryman talks about the service and what it has achieved.

Tell us about the service

Kia Puawai is located in the whare at the back of Western Heights Health Centre. We aim to provide an environment where whanau feel comfortable and safe, Maori values manaaki and whanau guide this. This is their home away from home. The service is for pregnant women and whanau with children aged 0-5 years residing in Western Heights and surrounding suburbs. We have two midwives who provide clinics four days a week, we offer pregnancy and parenting information and education (individual or group), Well Child Tamariki Ora checks, hands on practical support, smoking cessation support, social support, access to maara kai (vegetable garden) and access to clothing for 0-5-year-olds. We also have other services provided from the whare like Plunket, Justice of the Peace and community lactation consultant.

What are the key goals of the service?

Timely access to and engagement with the appropriate health and social services to support healthy pregnancies, support first time mums and dads (whanau) to care for baby and parent confidently and support whanau with children aged 0-5-years-old to complete the appropriate health checks.

How are you meeting those?

A high degree of flexibility is required to pivot services to meet the needs of the target population. We build relationships with whanau by listening, being consistent and transparent. We work alongside whanau to ensure their needs are being met.

Have there been any challenges since you started and how have you overcome these?

There have been many challenges however the biggest was in the beginning when we were promoting Kia Puawai to external community services and organisations. Being a two-year pilot programme we were viewed as "temporary" and for this reason some services were hesitant to refer whanau. We overcame this through relationship building, communication and collaboration ensuring we kept community interests at heart. We looked at how our services "fit" together and identified shared goals and aspirations. We then created systems and ways of working together that keep us connected, especially with the people and community we serve.

What have been some of the biggest achievements?

How much Kia Puawai has grown in the past two years. The number of whanau accessing the service has grown, mums are sharing their experience and recommending the service to their friends and whanau. Referrals have increased as providers have a better understanding of our service. This programme is about the community looking after the community, this includes the pharmacist and the shop keeper across the road who are telling whanau about our service. Our team has also grown, from a team of five we are now a team of nine including two midwives.

Lakes DHB have extended our contract which gives assurance that whanau have access to Kia Puawai support and services for another year.

What does it mean to be recognised with the award?

It's a very proud moment and it means so many things. It means all the work, the highs, the lows, the commitment, the sacrifices and challenges have been and continue to be worthwhile.

Most importantly this award validates the service, it means Kia Puawai is working, it is needed and that the whanau and community of Western Heights is benefiting.

What next for the service?

Education programmes provided to date have focussed on pregnancy, and whanau who have completed the sessions have asked for parenting education. We are constantly looking at ways to improve what we do. We are flexible and if something isn't working we'll look at changing what we do. We want to be unashamedly whanau focussed, whanau are who we are here to serve, whanau and the Western Heights community. This means providing the best service we can to those who need us most. We also keep current in our professional roles; members of our team will be attending the Mana Ririki Kaupapa Maori Parenting Conference being held in Rotorua in August. Mana Ririki is one of the programmes we offer out of Kia Puawai.