Listen Now: 
Download AudioA service that combines screening for breast, bowel and cervical cancers is proving highly successful.
Te Whanau o Waipareira’s Wai Health arm has done a one-year evaluation of its Mauri Tu Mauri Ora programme.
Lead nurse Marewa Tibble says it aimed to address many of the barriers Maori face with screening services.
The report highlighted whanau voices and showed how being able to show aroha and manaakitanga within a wraparound support system made a difference to the clinical approach.
“We were able to provide health promotion and services to those that needed extra support. We had more Maori kaimahi, doctors and nurses that understand the needs of our people. We had a young kaimahi team that worked alongside us and were able to use social media as a platform to get our whanau engaged,” Ms Tibble says.
The introduction of self-directed HPV testing has been a real game changer for the cervical smear campaign.
RELATED NEWS
