Analysis of the Maori Health Strategy in New Zealand's Healthcare

This report provides a detailed analysis of the Maori Health Strategy (He Korowai Oranga) in New Zealand, focusing on the healthcare challenges faced by the Maori population. It examines the strategy's aims, which include improving health outcomes and addressing disparities compared to the non-Maori population. The report discusses the alignment between the New Zealand Health Strategy and the Maori Health Strategy, highlighting initiatives like culturally appropriate care and increased Maori workforce participation. Key strategies such as delivering services near to the people and promoting equity in healthcare are explored. The report also covers initiatives to improve health outcomes, including training programs and funding for the Maori workforce. It concludes that both strategies share common goals for improving Maori health, emphasizing the importance of government support and implementation of initiatives within the New Zealand healthcare sector.

Running head: HEALTH SYSTEM AND STRUCTURE
Health System and Structure
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
This report discusses about the health care strategy of Maori population in New Zealand. The
health care system of New Zealand is considered to be a standard system of health care and
like other health care system in world, the health care system of New Zealand also faces
various challenges. In New Zealand, it is reported that, the health condition of the Maori
population is not up to the mark at all. For addressing the health related problem of Maori
population a new strategy named He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy was introduce
in order to it can support the Government and the health care sector to achieve the best health
care outcomes for the Maori population in the country. On the other hand, there is another
health care strategy for the all the New Zealander and a few principle and strategies overlap
with each other. Moreover various strategies are taken to implement the health care strategy
in the country for Maori population.

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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Aims and Target Group.........................................................................................................................3
New Zealand Health Strategy and Maori Health Strategy.....................................................................4
Health Care Initiative............................................................................................................................5
Improvement of Health Outcome..........................................................................................................6
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The health care system of New Zealand is considered to be a standard system of
health care and like other health care system in world, the health care system of New Zealand
also faces various challenges. In New Zealand, it is reported that, the health condition of the
Maori population is not up to the mark at all. In order to address this condition, a new
strategy for the Maori population in the country named He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health
Strategy was launched so that it can guide Government and the health care sector to achieve
the best health care outcomes for the Maori population in the country (Beehive.govt.nz,
2014). This He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy is a living strategy that provides
support to the Ministry of Health of the country. It is reported by the government that, after
the initiation of the He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy, the condition of the health of
the Maori people in the country is greatly improved (Ministry of Health, 2019). In this report,
an overview of the He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy, an initiative to improve the
health of the Maori population, improvement of the condition and similarities of New
Zealand Health Strategy and He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy are discussed in a
brief manner.
Aims and Target Group
The main aim of this He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy in New Zealand is
to provide support to the Maori population of the country in terms of their health outcome.
From the report of the government, it is reported that, the in 2016, there were almost 2275
health related inquiry in the ministry of health from the Maori population. Moreover, it is
quite evident that, the health related outcome is poor while relating with the health state of
the Non-Maori population of the country. So, it can be said that, the He Korowai Oranga:
Māori Health Strategy is required for the Maori population of the country. The main aim of

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this He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy is to develop equity in terms of health
outcome in the country. Another aim of this He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy is to
gain significant outcomes in Maori Health condition in near future. It is reported that, the life
expectancy of the Maori people in the country differs a lot with the life expectancy of the
Non-Maori people so it is aimed that, the disparity in the health outcome should be removed
by implementing this strategy. This new He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy will
provide support to the health related condition of Maori people in next 10-20 years (New
Zealand Government, 2016).
New Zealand Health Strategy and Maori Health Strategy
The New Zealand Health Strategy and He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy
are aligned with each other by many ways. According to the New Zealand Health Strategy
2016, it is observed that, there is a policy named Ka aro mai ki te kāinga that is delivering
services to the people in an area which is near to his/ her home. The main of this service
under the New Zealand Health Strategy is to deliver attention to people who are living in a
remote region so that they can manage their health condition. The use of modern technologies
in the health care sectors of the country will allow the shifting of health care facilities nearer
to the people. This will improve the service quality and the service will be more economically
sustainable. Apart from that, the initiative of delivering services in near location will also
allow to provide services in very remote location of the country. For example, it can be said
that, the use of tele health, outreach clinic, mobile vans can be used to delivery care for them
(Russell, Smiler & Stace,2013). In the He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy there is a
section named Te Ara Tuawhā that is also associated with delivering care to the Maori
population as per their near location. According to this policy, the health services of the
Maori people should be provided around the requirement of Maori and their whanau. It is
recommended that, in order to achieve this, the government should work on enhancing the

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barriers related to the service infrastructure, financial, geographical and physical conditions.
On the other hand in the New Zealand Health Strategy there is an strategy named Te
whāinga hua me te tika o ngā mahi that addresses the issue of equity in the health care of the
country. According to this principle, it is the duty of the government to maintain equity in the
health care outcomes by securing and improving the superiority and safety of the patients’
health. In order to achieve this outcome, the government has planned to change the current
system by providing more findings to the facilities of the health care scheme as well
(Ministry of Health, 2014). Therefore, in the He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy
there is initiative named Te Ara Tuarua that addresses the improvement of the health care
services for the Maori People. This principle addresses that Maori participation should be
encouraged more so that, they can actively take part in the process of health care delivery in
order to improve the accessibility of the health care services. Along with this, this section
also emphasizes on the matter that, the services should be developed according the beliefs
and views of the Maori people. This kind of initiative can improve the effective treatment of
Maori people in the country. It is reported that, from a last few years, the enhancement of
Maori participation in the health care work force has improved the condition a little.
However, more works to be done (New Zealand Government, 2016).
Health Care Initiative
For improving the health care condition of the Maori people, an initiative of culturally
appropriate care has been taken. It is very crucial to deliver culturally appropriate care to the
Maori people as it is quite obvious that, they different values and beliefs. Maori people
generally do not want to visit doctors until they are very much ill and they opt for emergency
services instead of primary health care service. So, it is very crucial to provide a culturally
appropriate care to the patients so that the Maori population may have interest in accessing
the primary health care services. As the Maori people are the key stakeholders for this health

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care strategy, it is recommended that, more incorporation of Maori work forces in the health
care system (Russell, Smiler & Stace,2013). As being a Maori health care provider, the
individual can better understand the mentality of a Maori people while delivering care to him
or her. Recruitment of more Maori work forces in the health care work forces of New
Zealand will also encourage the Maori people to access the primary health care services. For
implementing this strategy, the government should take adequate steps for recruiting and
training adequate number of Maori work forces so that they can be incorporated in the health
care work force of New Zealand (New Zealand Government, 2016). Moreover, after
implementing this, strategy, ministry of health of New Zealand should keep a close
observation on the implemented initiative whether it is working properly or not. However, if
there is any kind of drawback in this process, they should suggest required changes to the
policy so that the initiative can be implemented in a proper manner (Russell, Smiler &
Stace,2013). Along with this, government should form a committee that will be responsible
for monitoring the implementation process of the suggested initiative. Moreover, it is also
true that, the government will be directly responsible for taking adequate steps for
implementing those strategies for the Maori population of the country.
Improvement of Health Outcome
It is quite evident that, the Maori people are under represented in the health care
sectors and it is recommended that, the strengthen of Maori people in the health work forces
will enhance the care delivery process to whanau. For improving the condition of the Maori
workforces various training program and funding initiatives have already been taken. This
Maori work force development will play an important role in recognising the needs and
requirements of the Maori community. It is reported that, the Maori community health
workers and voluntary workers play a crucial role in improvement of the health condition of
the Maori whanau (Ministry of Health, 2014). Moreover, it is very appreciable that, most of

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the community health workers or the voluntary workers working for the improvement of the
Maori health are female and such initiatives can encourage more workers to join the
community work forces , public health work forces, voluntary work forces and it will
contribute to the improvement of Maori whanau (New Zealand Government, 2016).
Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded that both the health strategy that is New Zealand Health
Strategy and He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy share a few common strategy and
goal for improving the health of the Maori population in the country. In order to improve the
condition, a few initiatives are taken and government should take a positive role in
implementing those initiatives in the health care sector of New Zealand.

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References
Beehive.govt.nz (2014). Launch of He Korowai Oranga – Māori Health Strategy.
Beehive.govt.nz. Retrieved from- https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/launch-he-
korowai-oranga-%E2%80%93-m%C4%81ori-health-strategy [Accessed on- 14th June
2019]
Ministry of Health (2014). The Guide to He Korowai Oranga: Māori Health Strategy.
newzealand. .govt.nz. Retrieved from-
https://www.tdhb.org.nz/services/maori_health/documents/he-korowai-oranga-refresh-
guide.pdf
Ministry of Health (2019). He Korowai Oranga. Ministry of Health. Retrieved from-
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/populations/maori-health/he-korowai-oranga
[Accessed on- 14th June 2019]
New Zealand Government (2016). New Zealand Health Strategy Future direction. New
Zealand Government. Retrieved from-
https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/new-zealand-health-
strategy-futuredirection-2016-apr16.pdf
New Zealand Government (2016). New Zealand Health Strategy Roadmap of actions 2016 .
New Zealand Government. Retrieved from-
https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/new-zealand-health-
strategy-roadmapofactions-2016-apr16.pdf
Russell, L., Smiler, K., & Stace, H. (2013). IMPROVING MĀORI HEALTH AND
REDUCING INEQUALITIES BETWEEN MĀORI AND NONMĀORI: HAS THE
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE STRATEGY WORKED FOR MĀORI? AN
EVALUATION OF THE PERIOD 2003-2010. Health Services Research Centre

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Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved from-
https://www.victoria.ac.nz/health/centres/health-services-research-centre/our-
publications/reports/phcse-maori-report.pdf