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Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika

Introducing Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika

Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika describes the values, attitudes, knowledge, and skills required for working effectively alongside tāngata whai ora and whānau experiencing addiction and/or mental health challenges. The framework reflects the Aotearoa New Zealand context and contemporary best practice. It complements professional competency frameworks and provides a foundational approach for kaimahi who are not guided by a professional competency framework.

Animated video explaining Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika

Whakapapa

Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika provides a vision for what kaimahi (health workers) need to know and do when supporting tāngata whai ora and whānau. This was previously described in Let’s get real (Te Pou & Ministry of Health, 2021). The mental health and addiction sector has widely used this framework for nearly two decades.

Read about the framework’s whakapapa.

Read the overview of the 2025 framework updates.

What the framework does

Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika aims to:

  • Support tāngata whai ora and whānau to have positive experiences and outcomes when accessing all health services.
  • Strengthen the quality of services and support for tāngata whai ora and whānau through promoting kotahitanga, best practice, and workforce development.
  • Promote kotahitanga (working in unity, with a common purpose) by providing shared principles, values, attitudes, knowledge and skills for everyone working in health.
  • Support equitable access to services through a focus on engagement for Māori and diverse populations.

Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika is most likely to be effective when you take an organisation-wide approach and embed it across your organisational systems and processes.

The Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika values and attitudes underpin the seven Real Skills

Read the framework

The framework is available as an easy-to-navigate online resource, or you can download a PDF version. You can also request a hard copy of the full framework by clicking on the "Order card copy" button on the resource page. Also available is a back-pocket resource to introduce kaimahi to the framework.

The Let's get real resources are still available for you to access. While Let’s get real has evolved into Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika, these resources still align with the values, attitudes and seven Real Skills and remain very applicable to improve outcomes for tāngata whai ora and whānau. Continue to use these resources to enhance your learning and organisational development. Watch out for new resources as they become available.

Access the resources

There are a range of resources available to help you apply Keeping it Real | Kia Pono te Tika. Use the navigation menu (on the left or top of this page) to access the values and attitudes resources, Real Skills: He kete rauemi (collection of learning resources), e-learning modules, trauma-informed resources, and tools and assessments for leaders and educators.

Key contact

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