Waikato Health News Summer 2018/2019

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WAIKATO HEALTH NEWS

SUMMER 2018/19 WELCOME TO OUR SUMMER ISSUE WHICH INCLUDES STORIES, HEALTH ADVICE AND INFORMATION FROM WAIKATO DISTRICT HEALTH BOARD FOR VISITORS, PATIENTS AND PUBLIC.

PUBLISHED BY Waikato District Health Board Hamilton, New Zealand December 2018

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Warm welcome at Hauora ihub I

f you are visiting Waikato Hospital or coming for a clinic appointment, Hauora ihub is one of the things you will notice in the big open corridor space of Meade Clinical Centre Level 1. It’s near the community pharmacy, sushi shop and the area where you may also find a volunteer playing the piano. Next time, wander over and say hello. It’s a people-friendly “drop-in” space where visitors, patients’ families or those coming to a clinic can access health and wellbeing information, referrals to health and screening programmes, and even some on-thespot services like blood pressure and cervical smear tests. “People love it, especially Māori people – they appreciate our approach, the way we take the time to show manaakitanga (caring, hospitality, respect) and make personal connections,” says the Hauora ihub nurse Natalie Lewis, looking back over the first five months since it was opened in late June 2018. Its kaupapa is to make health information and services more accessible to Māori, Pasifika and lower income families - people who often don’t feel comfortable dealing with the mainstream health system. Inside the ihub is a cosy room where Natalie can talk privately with

customers. Many of them, she says, have avoided having check-ups or mammograms or smears for many years, if at all. “Some have very complex health issues, and they want someone who will take the time to listen. That’s what I can do,” she says. “I do a lot of listening, but that is what builds trust and a connection between people.” When we arrived to interview Natalie, she was asking Alofa, one of her volunteer helpers, to escort a lady to Breast Care Centre for her first mammogram in six years – and the look of relief and confidence in that lady’s face (and her husband’s) told a story. More recently the Hauora ihub team has started setting up a stand at events or places away from the hospital to reach into the community. On Friday 16 November two of Natalie’s volunteer helpers were at the Te Kōhao Health Whānau Ora Day at Kirikiriroa Marae in Hamilton.

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IN THIS ISSUE

AWARDS IKINS

BABY MAN

ENTRE

TE KUITI C MAGICAL

PHOTO

E BRIDGES H T D N U O R 50

THAMES 1

rt staff o p p u s e Car RD

CROSSWO


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