October 08, 2021
COVID response feeding cultural intelligence into health reforms
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A South Auckland MP says the response of Māori and Pasifika providers to the COVID-19 crisis has changed the way the Government sees the health system.
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito Su’a William Sio says many of the cases emerging are among families who have little relationship with the health sector until they turn up in the emergency department at Middlemore Hospital.
He says health authorities have realised they need to operate differently when dealing with big families, many with co-morbidities, and many who feel they may have more urgent priorities than getting vaccinated.
“We know the inequities, we know about the barriers, so we are going to take those lessons forward into the health reforms to make we are embedding this new way, a collaboration approach, valuing the experience and the intelligence of our people on the ground, particularly of our providers who have language skills and cultural intelligence, to deal with the diversity of families that we are now having to deal with,” Mr Sio says.