Te Pūkenga And Wintec To Launch Ground-breaking Community Health Clinics

A ground-breaking, community health education model will launch at Wintec in Kirikiriroa Hamilton from 2022, where ākonga/learners studying health and sport-related disciplines will learn in supervised working clinics.

The project, He Kaupapa Oranga Tahi is grounded in community and Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership principles to develop a health workforce with a high level of clinical capability, cultural competence and community insight, networked to community-based partners.

Wintec Chief Executive, David Christiansen says He Kaupapa Oranga Tahi is shaped by a vision for the future of vocational education by

Te Pūkenga

, which Wintec is part of.

“He Kaupapa Oranga Tahi is a big milestone for training an effective health workforce here in Aotearoa and the Waikato,” says Christiansen.

“This project will continue to develop through collaborative, equitable and Te Tiriti o Waitangi- based partnerships to inform best outcomes for our learners and our community, by embedding a culturally responsive and community-based health workforce.”

He Kaupapa Oranga Tahi aims to foster careers in the fields of nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social work, counselling, exercise physiology and sports science.

The project will be delivered by a Wintec team supported by Te Pūkenga and leading community Māori and Pacific health organisations: K’aute Pasifika, Te Kōhao Health, Ngā Miro Health, Te Hauora O Ngāti Hauā, Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust and Tū Tonu.

The project is going ahead thanks to a Trust Waikato Community Impact grant of $1.5 million, to be distributed over three years.

Trust Waikato Chief Executive, Dennis Turton says the Trust is committed to supporting the establishment of the ākonga-assisted health clinics at Wintec in Kirikiriroa Hamilton.

“We are committed to building a more just and equitable Waikato and know that educational and other barriers exist for many of our Māori and Pacific communities, as well as other cultures. We welcome the collaboration with Māori and Pacific health and social service providers and developing culturally responsive and mana-enhancing care practices,” Turton says.

“Trust Waikato is interested in how this programme will improve the educational outcomes for Māori and Pacific students, and through a cultural lens, bring about systemic change in Aotearoa’s educational institutions.”

The Wintec project team is working in consultation with sponsor, Te Pūkenga, Deputy Chief Executive Delivery and Academic, Dr Angela Beaton.

“Trust Waikato has enabled a unique opportunity that will benefit Waikato communities and the next generation of health and social care professionals,” says Dr Beaton.

“He Kaupapa Oranga Tahi brings together community provision and expertise, evidence and research to support our learners to apply their practical skills in culturally-responsive environments. We’re right behind this project and look forward to seeing it grow and develop.”

Dr Beaton says there is potential for this model to be replicated throughout Aotearoa New Zealand through Te Pūkenga subsidiaries.

“I know the wider Te Pūkenga network will be watching this project closely and looking for opportunities to scale and replicate what works well so all our learners across the network can benefit.”

He Kaupapa Oranga Tahi aims to achieve positive outcomes and equity in health, training, and access for underserved communities, in particular Māori, Pacific and disabled people.

The project will be implemented over three years in stages through a collaborative partnership with Te Pūkenga, Waikato-based Māori and Pacific health and social service providers and project co-leads, Wintec academics, Professor Sharon Brownie, Centre for Health and Social Practice and Dr Marrin Haggie, Centre for Sport Science and Human Performance who have led the development.

Wintec adjunct Professor, Sharon Brownie says research and development has been a significant part in the delivery of the project model for the clinic and its outcomes.

“Further, establishment of the clinics will strengthen our collaborations with Māori and Pacific health and community service providers in the Waikato rohe enabling direct input of authentic, practice-based cultural perspective to the clinical learning experience of the region’s future health and exercise-related workforce.”

In 2022, Wintec will launch the first stage, a pilot clinic. Full scale implementation is planned for 2024 to embed a purpose-built five-day operating health education clinic.

Wintec is a subsidiary of Te Pūkenga, the organisation that is uniting Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) and transitional Industry Training Organisation (TITOs) across Aotearoa New Zealand into a national network to reimagine vocational learning. 

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