He Korowai Oranga: Maori Health Strategy and the New Zealand Health Strategy

This article discusses the similarities between He Korowai Oranga and the New Zealand Health Strategy in promoting the Maori community's involvement in determining their own priorities and aspirations in healthcare. Both initiatives focus on the importance of government support and effective partnership with the Maori community to develop healthcare sectors that align with their needs and demands. They also emphasize the empowerment of the people and the importance of community-based approaches in healthcare services.

He Korowai Oranga: Maori Health Strategy and the New Zealand Health Strategy:
A large number of similarities have been found between the He Korowai Oranga and the New
Zealand Health Strategy. The first striking similarity of the Maori health policy with that of the New
Zealand Health Strategy is to promote the encouragement of the Maori community for determining their
own priorities as well as aspirations in the disability and the health domains of the nation. It also guides
them in planning and delivering of services that would take into account the aspirations of the Maori
people
The second similarity is that both the initiatives have focused on the importance of the role of the
government in supporting the aspiration of the Maori community. Both the initiatives have put
importance on the effective involvement and partnership with Maori community to develop healthcare
sectors that align with their needs and demands (Page et al., 2017). The initiatives mainly speak about the
significance of the interventions of the government for delivering evidence-based public services.
The third similarity is that the initiatives taken up by He Korowai Oranga: Maori Health Strategy
and the New Zealand Health strategy 2016 have focused on empowerment of the people. The government
needs to make sure that these initiatives should be based on a more people-centered approach so that the
communities feel empowered, respected and honored.
The fourth similarity is that the initiatives focused on the importance of the members of the
nation to be effective partners in healthcare and participate in designing the system to align their needs
(Came et al., 2017). When community members are made active participants in their healthcare, they tend
to reveal information that helps in information gathering and help in development of person-centered
focus. Therefore, it helps in strategy development that would help in mitigating the issues and overcome
the concerns

Another striking similarity that has been found in both the policies is their approach towards the
development of better health of the people of the nation. The policy has supported that whanaus operate
best within the wider context of the community and therefore different developmental procedures are
prepared based on the community approaches only. Therefore, importance is placed on the development
of conditions through which Maori people can ensure a strong sense of identity as well as belonging,
developing knowledge, and the different types of skills and resources for participating in the Te ao Maori
and the wider context of New Zealand (Jones, 2014). The approaches also involve community-based
interventions like developing safe and nurturing physical home, work, school and even the social
environment. This is very similar to the approaches that are undertaken by the New Zealand Health
Strategy.
The next striking similarity of both the strategies shows the importance of the community-based
approaches in the development of health care services in the nation. Researchers are of the opinion that
more the healthcare services are brought closer to the people in local communities, the better will be the
responses and participation in the healthcare activities of the Maori. Healthcare professionals need to
promote the concepts of community-based rehabilitation, preventive services, screening services and
many others. They should be ensuring that whanau, hapu and iwi receive services and support that they
need for their better health (Dobl et al., 2017).