Bringing families together to access health services

Pacific healthcare provider the Rotorua Pacific Islands Development Charitable Trust is taking a family approach to healthcare and vaccinations, and seeing some great results.

The Trust runs programmes including an early learning centre, social services, sessions for elderly people and a youth service, along with healthcare services. They also host the Rotorua Pasifika Festival, an annual event that celebrates the richness of Pacific cultures and diversity through music, dance, food and language.

Mata Mafileo, Chief Executive, says that it’s all about creating environments where people from different Pacific cultures feel safe and welcomed.

“We try really hard to put people at ease when they’re attending our events—for example, when we hold vaccination clinics at our healthcare centre, we’ll see a family arrive, identify what ethnicity they are and then greet them at the door in their own language.

“We often run these clinics after hours, so they suit people who work during the day, and we also have our kaiawhina Tafea Iasona available who helps people understand what other services are available to them, such as screening.

“They get looked after from start to finish, and we also share a meal together —we want to make it feel just like they’re visiting another family. Many times when people leave they will say, ‘we will see you next time,’ and so we know it’s been a success!”

Reaching out to people in the community

The Trust started up a programme in 2021 to help elderly people who are feeling isolated. “We take them out of their homes to meet up and share stories with each other,” says Mata.

“This gives them joy, and helps so much with their wellbeing. It’s also an opportunity for us to talk to them about healthcare and vaccinations and help them to see why it’s important for their families—as Pacific peoples, we have a deep-rooted commitment to the well-being and longevity of our communities.”

The Trust is also very active in its outreach, particularly around vaccinations. “We pop flyers in the post, we put posters up in supermarkets, and we call people up on the phone—we go a long way to reach as many people as we can,” says Mata.

“Then when they book in, we invite them to bring other family members along. It makes it feel a lot like a family gathering where the kids learn about healthcare at the same time as their parents.”

The Rotorua Pasifika Festival, an annual event hosted by the Trust, is also a great opportunity to connect with people who might not access healthcare services. Described as a Rotorua icon, around 3,000 people attended this year.

“The festival brings our Pacific communities in Rotorua together to be enriched in our various cultures—we celebrate all things Pacific,” says Mata. “It’s designed for families and there’s music, performances and dancing, as well as various food, craft and health and information stalls. We just held our 10^th Pasifika Festival, which was a great success—I am so proud of the work the team and the community do to come together in this way.”

What it comes down to, says Mata, is changing the ways things are usually done in healthcare. “Challenging the ways things are usually done, and doing what best suits the needs of our people, makes all the difference to the wellbeing of our Pacific communities in Rotorua.”