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Working alongside tāngata whai ora

Everyone working in health engages meaningfully with tāngata whai ora and focuses on their strengths, to support self-determination and equitable wellbeing outcomes.

Expected outcome

Tāngata whai ora have their mana protected and enhanced and experience respect. They are informed of their options, receive support to make decisions, and achieve their wellbeing goals.

Essential 

Enhanced 

Leadership

Aotearoa context

Recognises that Te Tiriti o Waitangi sets the context for working alongside tāngata whai ora and whānau

Applies an understanding of the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Applies an understanding of health equity in Aotearoa

Recognises that Māori are an identified priority population with high health needs

Recognises other identified priority populations with high health needs (eg Pacific peoples, tāngata whaikaha, people from refugee-backgrounds, and rainbow populations)

Supports others to apply the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Demonstrates responsiveness to tāngata whai ora from priority populations 
 

Ensures integration of Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles in service development and delivery

Regularly reviews organisational effectiveness in integrating Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles

Provides leadership and resources to enable kaimahi to apply Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles in their work

Provides leadership to ensure effective support for priority populations with high health needs

 

Engagement

Warmly welcomes and appropriately greets tāngata whai ora and whānau

Respectfully clarifies preferences to ensure use of preferred name, correct pronunciation of names, and correct use of pronouns

Demonstrates manaakitanga and whanaungatanga, establishing a connection and rapport with tāngata whai ora

Invites tāngata whai ora to involve a support person or people

Recognises that people may feel apprehensive or fearful when accessing services

Supports tāngata whai ora and whānau to feel safe and comfortable

Takes time to know tāngata whai ora and their context

Conveys hope for wellbeing 

 

Builds and sustains trusting relationships with tāngata whai ora, taking the time needed to do this

Navigates challenges within relationships to support ongoing engagement of tāngata whai ora and whānau

Engages effectively with tangata whenua  

Tailors approach to ensure effective engagement with tāngata whai ora from priority populations

Tailors approach to ensure effective engagement with tāngata whai ora across different stages of life
 

Ensures services are welcoming and responsive (including culturally responsive)

Ensures effective organisational communication with tāngata whai ora and whānau

Ensures that systems and processes for engagement, including online and telehealth options, are engaging and inclusive for all

Identifies and addresses barriers that may prevent people from engaging with services
 

Diversity

Demonstrates respect for diverse world views

Responds affirmatively and effectively to all tāngata whai ora

Recognises the range of diverse strengths and needs of tāngata whai ora across different stages of life (ie pregnancy, infancy, childhood, youth,  adulthood and older age)

Respectfully asks questions rather than making assumptions based on gender identity, culture, age, disability, sexual orientation, and spirituality

Demonstrates awareness that beliefs and approaches to addiction, mental health, and wellbeing can be culturally informed and that there is diversity within groups

Values and respects people’s interpretation of their own experiences

Demonstrates cultural safety as defined by tangata whai ora and whānau

Works effectively at the interface between their own culture and the culture of others  

Uses the services of qualified interpreters

Uses culturally specific resources

Understands and works to eliminate barriers to accessing support for tāngata whaikaha, older people, and people for whom English is not their first language (eg provides information in forms that are tailored to the person’s needs; takes time and checks understanding)

Contributes to a safe, accessible and inclusive service environment
 

Ensures planning and provision of support reflect tāngata whai ora perspectives of wellbeing

Demonstrates understanding of evidence-based addiction and mental health approaches and therapies and their interface with culture, gender identity, age, and disability

Seeks advice and support from people who hold specialist knowledge in relation to diversity (eg gender identity, expression and fluidity, culture, age, disability, sexual orientation, faith, and spirituality)

Supports ‘Pacific ways’ when working alongside Pacific peoples, including Pacific languages, identity, connectedness, traditions, and spirituality

Demonstrates understanding of Pacific health models

Facilitates access to Pacific peoples’ supports and services

Works effectively alongside Asian peoples (eg provides or facilitates access to culturally effective supports and services)

Works effectively alongside people from migrant groups

Works effectively with people from refugee backgrounds

Works effectively with people from rainbow communities (eg, demonstrates understanding of gender-affirming practices, and gender and sexuality-appropriate support services and the impact of these on wellbeing)

Works effectively with tāngata whaikaha, tailoring approach to support accessibility

Demonstrates effective practice with tāngata whai ora across all ages
 

Ensures cultural safety principles are included in organisational policy and practices

Ensures all kaimahi are trained and supervised to provide cultural safety

Enables kaimahi, teams, and services to work effectively in the spirit of kotahitanga, respecting diversity

Ensures services are affirmative of and responsive to the needs of communities and populations

Ensures access to the services of qualified interpreters

Maintains systems to gain advice and guidance from people who hold specialist knowledge in relation to diverse populations
(eg the refugee experience, gender identity, expression and fluidity, culture, age, disability, sexual orientation, spirituality, different stages of life)

Identifies and works to address barriers to equitable health outcomes

Ensures provision of safe, accessible, and inclusive environments

 

 

Kotahitanga including supported decision-making

Works alongside tāngata whai ora and whānau in the spirit of kotahitanga, focusing on their strengths

Works to minimise the impact of power differences

Focuses on what is important to tāngata whai ora and whānau

Supports tāngata whai ora to make their own decisions relating to their wellbeing and support

Provides information that is accessible, and appropriate to age and culture
 

Works alongside tāngata whai ora and whānau in a manner that accesses their skills and expertise

Facilitates informed choice and supported decision-making in accordance with legislation and standards

Respectfully provides or facilitates access to support for tāngata whai ora who may require additional support to make their own decisions (eg tāngata whaikaha, people with English as a second language, and people who do not have capacity to give consent)
 

Promotes and enables advisory, management, and governance structures that are inclusive of a diverse range of tāngata whai ora and whānau perspectives in service development, review, and evaluation

Works in a spirit of kotahitanga with tāngata whai ora-led groups and services

Promotes inclusion of the consumer, peer support, and lived experience (CPSLE) workforce in services
 

Assessment, planning, and support

As appropriate to role, applies basic understanding of a holistic concept of wellbeing that encompasses all dimensions of health: tinana (physical), hinengaro (mental and emotional), whānau (social), and wairua (spiritual)

Applies a person- and whānau-centred approach

Demonstrates understanding of the role of values in own work

Demonstrates a strengths-based approach

Demonstrates basic understanding of the range of addiction and mental health-related challenges that people can experience (as applicable to role)

Demonstrates understanding of the importance of having choice of assessment and support options

Works to address barriers that prevent tāngata whai ora and whānau from accessing services

Applies culturally safe and evidence-based information-gathering, assessment, planning processes, and support appropriate to role

Knows how to seek support for tāngata whai ora who are feeling unsafe or at risk of suicide

Demonstrates basic understanding of different forms of abuse, including physical, emotional, sexual, financial, neglect, and psychological abuse
 

Demonstrates in-depth understanding of a holistic concept of wellbeing

Models values-informed practice

Provides or supports access to cultural responses to restoring wellbeing

Applies in-depth understanding of the range of addiction and mental health-related challenges that people can experience

Provides or supports access to 
evidence-based approaches and therapies

Supports tāngata whai ora who are feeling unsafe or at risk of suicide

Identifies and responds effectively to address any form of abuse

Works to address risks of diagnostic overshadowing associated with addiction, mental health challenges, disability, and older age

Works effectively with interrelated health and wellbeing needs, including complex needs (eg physical health needs; sexuality and social isolation for some older people and some tāngata whaikaha)

Works alongside tāngata whai ora and whānau to develop and document tailored wellbeing plans, involving other services as appropriate

Supports tāngata whai ora and whānau to navigate across services and supports as needed
 

Leads ongoing development of a person- and whānau-centred service

Leads and models a wellbeing focus

Leads a values-informed approach to service design and delivery

Ensures services apply recognised best-practice approaches

Ensures that processes are in place to promote options and choice of support and services

Supports service collaboration and integration across health and other sectors to enable effective service delivery (eg leads development of strong working relationships between primary and secondary health providers)
 

Trauma-informed approach

Demonstrates understanding of the wide range of possible effects of trauma and loss on all dimensions of wellbeing

Demonstrates understanding of the wide range of possible effects of intergenerational trauma on tāngata whenua

Demonstrates understanding of intergenerational trauma and loss for other populations in Aotearoa (eg for Pacific Peoples and Asian communities resulting from structural discrimination in Aotearoa, both historic and contemporary)

Demonstrates understanding that people from refugee backgrounds have experienced significant trauma and loss which continues after resettlement in Aotearoa

Works to avoid traumatising or retraumatising tāngata whai ora

Applies a shift in thinking from “what is wrong with you?” to 
“what happened to you and your whānau?”

Supports the strengths of tāngata whai ora, whānau, and communities, inspiring hope

Contributes to building and maintaining a safe and inclusive trauma-informed environment
 

Recognises signs that people have experienced trauma and loss

Works to understand what the experience of trauma means for tāngata whai ora and whānau

Establishes psychological safety and maintains a trusting and compassionate relationship

Focuses on empowerment of tāngata whai ora and whānau

Offers choices (eg choice of person providing care, cultural support, peer support)

Responds effectively to trauma-related reactions from tāngata whai ora and whānau, enhancing emotional regulation

Addresses trauma and loss history where indicated (eg provides appropriate resources; refers to appropriate specialist services)

Works to account for and address the needs of whānau Māori arising from cultural alienation, (eg supports tāngata whai ora to reconnect with Māori culture and whānau)

Ensures that cultural identity is a central feature of wellbeing support, to enhance protective factors, strengths, and resiliency
 

Fosters and enables the delivery of services that reflect trauma-informed approaches

Ensures service design is informed by whānau, hapū, iwi, mana whenua, and/or hapori Māori to reflect Māori aspirations