Hon Tariana Turia

Associate Minister of Health

Tuesday 30 November 2010; 11.15am

Speech

Toi Ora Whanau Ora Centre Launch; Opotiki Community Health; Opotiki

I was rapt to receive the invitation from Don Riesterer, on behalf of Te Ao Hou Trust, to join you at this very launch of the Toi Ora Whanau Ora Centre.

It seems so appropriate that we are celebrating Whanau Ora in the context of Te Ao Hou.

We are indeed welcoming the new world - and yet a world that sources its origins, vision and values from a tribal foundation stretching from the beginning of time to eternity.

I can’t help but be excited by the Whanau Ora approach which is derived from a way of being which emerges from this land, Aotearoa; and from our own tangata whenua frameworks.

There are so many projects which have been introduced into New Zealand from the experiences of other nations. While it is always useful to learn about different strategies there is something so grounding about coming home to your own solutions, that come from the worldviews of the people of this land.

And so I also want to recognise Henare Mason, the Chair of the National Maori Primary Health Organisation Coalition and the precedent that the Coalition is establishing, for trusting our own answers.

I was interested when I looked at the values of Te Ao Hou, to see the priority that you have accorded to what you call Kia Tika Nga Mahi – the importance of trust amongst members and being trustworthy. Trust is such a key factor in the success of Whanau Ora and it is great to see it upfront there amongst your key values.

Trust – what I think of as whakawhirinakitanga – is about accepting that others will endeavour to do their best.
It is about having faith and confidence in others. It is also about sharing and accepting responsibility and being someone others can rely on.

What we have seen develop over successive generations is that our people relied on the support of the state to assist – and more recently transferred that trust to the various providers and agencies that come into their lives.

While I have no doubt that all our providers approach whanau with the very best of intentions, I have been concerned that gradually, slowly but surely, our whanau have stopped trusting their own whanau as the source of their greatest inspiration.

And so I want to commend the Eastern Bay Primary Health Alliance, led by Te Ao Hou, in the decision you have made to place your trust in your whanau – to support their journey to determine their pathway forward.

The Whanau Ora Centre will play an important role in helping to support whanau in the identification of clinical and social issues that have arisen for them.

The critical thing will be the quality of your relationships – and the building of trust not just with an individual client or patient, but with the whole whanau.

I want to share two scenarios with you that remind me why Whanau Ora is needed.

The first is a fifteen year old mokopuna going into our health service, and sharing the news that she was pregnant. The immediate reaction from the health professional was to provide her with advice about an abortion. There was a referral to CYFS to be considered. All the while, the family was explicitly excluded from the discussion; the assumption being that their displeasure at the situation should be avoided at all cost.

The second scenario is the young woman comes in with her whanau, and is immediately referred to our kuia to have a discussion around the significance of te whare tangata; the protection of whakapapa, and the importance of whanaungatanga. There would be sessions which provide further information about clinical options, about social services support, and space for full consideration about the pathway ahead of them.

Now it may transpire that both scenarios result in a similar outcome – but the process is completely different – one excluding the whanau; the other determined by the whanau.

It all comes back to whirinakitanga – to engender the trust from the whanau so that the complete picture is known

And it depends too, on all of us knowing our place, being respectful of the need for whanau to be driving their own destiny. Unless we know the complete picture, we cannot assist whanau to be the very best that they can be.
So I was happy to come today, to bear witness to this new world built from the old; to celebrate the success of the Eastern Bay of Plenty PHO in the Better, Sooner, More Convenient Primary Health Care Business Case.

You can be very proud of your reputation as one of the nine leading proposals that Government has selected in the pursuit of more personalised primary health care.

The different aspects of your proposal – the Whanau Ora centres and the integrated Family Health Network – are driven by the need to focus far more tightly around making life all that much easier, by bringing all the pieces together.

This approach – supported by the Whanau Ora approach that Te Ao Hou Whanau Ora network is pioneering – is destined to make a tangible difference in the lives of the whanau you support.

And so I say to you all – kia kaha – do all that you can to develop quality, trusting relationships – and then take the bravest step possible, and step back, to allow whanau to take the driving seat.

This is the most wonderful aspect of Whanau Ora – that we must be motivated by the knowledge that all whanau are capable of taking back the control, of restoring to themselves that sense of self-belief that enables their aspirations to be achieved; that will ultimately create the transformation they are looking for.

Thank you for allowing me to be part of this very important day.

I hope that many years from now we will look back at this time, and be proud that we have done everything we can to enable and empower whanau to realise that optimum health and wellbeing is not only their right; it is their responsibility to each other; and it is their reality.

Tena tatou katoa

ENDS

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