Starship launches culturally responsive team, Ringa Atawhai, to help transform healthcare experiences of mokopuna and
whānau
In a first for Starship, the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) will be home to a dedicated culturally responsive
multi-disciplinary team, Ringa Atawhai.
Translated as the nurturing hand of support, Ringa Atawhai is a new and innovative model of care. It is part of the
hospital's PICU expansion, funded as part of Heath New Zealand|Te Whatu Ora’s ongoing national intensive care
development programme. Ringa Atawhai will be piloted over the next 12 months.
Tama Ariki Ora (Starship’s Māori leadership team) celebrated the launch of the new initiative this Wednesday, with a
pōwhiri to welcome the inaugural Ringa Atawhai team, comprising of five specialist roles: a Māori nurse specialist,
social work specialist, Kaimanaaki – cultural specialist, allied health specialist and mental health clinician.
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Director of Māori Health for Starship, Toni Shepherd, says that Ringa Atawhai was
birthed amidst the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and quickly grew momentum as services continuously advocated the need
for culturally safe, holistic support.
“With the rigour of a multi-disciplinary approach that brings mātauranga Māori and clinically informed care together,
this could be the future of providing culturally safe and comprehensive healthcare to mokopuna and their whānau moving
forward,” she says.
Research shows that mokopuna Māori experience illness at greater rates, have increased co-morbidities, poorer
intergenerational health outcomes and higher mortality rates.
Ringa Atawhai will help to transform these realities and experiences for tamariki, mokopuna and their whānau, she says,
while raising the capacity and capability of Māori clinicians within child health, including PICU and Starship, of which
Māori make up three per cent.
“In the first month, the team will work closely with key individuals to develop a leading mokopuna-centric,
whānau-focused, whānau-led model of care that will go live in the PICU on Thursday 28th March.”
Ringa Atawhai is part of the Starship Child Health Strategy, says Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Director of Starship
Surgical Services, John Beca. “We launched the new strategy during Matariki 2022, which focusses on equity, underpinned
by Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and recognises Starship Child Health’s obligation, purpose and responsibility to the current
and future mokopuna of Aotearoa.
“I’m proud of how far we’ve come at Starship. Unfortunately, not all mokopuna in Aotearoa have experienced the same
standard of health, so we must think differently and do things differently,” he says. “Ringa Atawhai is our commitment
to that.”