By Lorraine Staunton - Kaiwhakahaere Rātonga (Service Delivery Manager)
Mana Wāhine hauora days for women have grown from strength to strength again this year. Here is Lorraine’s pakiwaitara:
Te Piki Oranga Cancer Care team hosted our Mana Wāhine hauora day in December, in partnership with kaimahi from Te Whatu Ora Public Health Service, Nelson Bays Primary Health and Nelson Tasman Pasifika Trust.
The day was an opportunity for wāhine Māori and Pasifika to get up to date with their cervical screening. We completed almost all booked appointments, rescheduling times for wāhine who couldn’t make it.
Our immunisation team attended with the nursing team, providing immunisation to tamariki, wāhine and hapū māmā. Each wahine recieved a kai or petrol voucher, a sunscreen pack, a kai pack and a gift they chose for themselves (some donated by local businesses).
We were very appreciative of Bunnings Nelson, which donated a lovely gift basket, and to Sealord, which donated kaimoana and funds to transport wāhine to the event.
The day ran at a comfortable and relaxed pace, giving wāhine lots of time to have a kōrero with nurses about their health. One of the successes of the Mana Wāhine model of care is the health kōrero that results in wāhine asking to be referred into services such as Te Hā (smokefree), Tamariki Ora and cancer screening.
Photo captions, clockwise from top left:
Kai basket and giveaways to make the day even more enjoyable
Lorraine Staunton undertakes a health check with a Mana Wāhine participant
Hamish Brown receiving a donation of kaimoana from Sealord’s Annabel Scaife
One of the wonderful wāhine who attended Mana Wāhine
Whānau feedback about Mana Wāhine hauora days
“When you walked in it looked like Christmas. They had a table with prizes that the wāhine could choose from, a bit like a lucky dip.”
“Kai parcels, some feminine hygiene products and sunscreen were given to whānau.”
“Overall, it was another great Mana Wāhine day.” “It was an inviting experience, they made it better than going to a GP.”
“Everyone is super lovely and made me feel comfortable.”
“Being able to share and speak about my medical worries with the nurse today was awesome.”
“Just to have caring people listen and give advice and not feel ashamed in sharing.”
“Friendliness of the staff made me feel less worried and much more confident.”
“Being able to chat with the nurse was very helpful and have the time to chat was valuable.”
“The service was amazing, informed me of everything very thoroughly.”
“Keep striving forward wāhine ma for our Māori health and wellbeing, this was such an awesome experience.”
“Was an easy nice way to do health checks.”
