Analysis of Public Health Care System in New Zealand: A Report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the public healthcare system in New Zealand, focusing on key elements such as assessment, analysis, and action. It delves into the roles and responsibilities within the system, emphasizing health assessment and surveillance, which involves monitoring health-related events and analyzing past health histories. The report also explores health promotion strategies aimed at improving health equity and reducing disease burdens, including programs like WAVE. Furthermore, it examines health protection measures, including environmental health and communicable disease management, and preventive interventions like immunization and nutrition programs. The report highlights the interconnectedness of health promotion, health protection, and preventive interventions, providing a holistic view of the healthcare landscape in New Zealand. Additionally, the report includes a self-evaluation of a group project where the author participated in a survey and research, reflecting on the experience of teamwork, communication, and the impact of group dynamics on learning and personal development. The author reflects on both the positive aspects, such as enhanced knowledge and improved communication skills, and potential drawbacks, such as the overshadowing of individual contributions, offering a balanced perspective on the effectiveness of group-based activities.

Public Health Care in Newzealand
The broad spectrum of public Health Care encompasses various aspects, which
mainly focus on three elements – Assessment, Analysis, and Action. Similar to other countries,
the system of health services devised for the people inhabiting Newzealand also comprises of
well-defined roles and responsibilities for ensuring health security.
Health Assessment and Surveillance
From the perspective of public health scenario (Good-year Smith & Ashton, 2019) in
Newzealand as well, surveillance and assessment provide intricate details about the following :
 Assessment of the problem
 Analysis of the past health history of a disease or etiology of the problem.
 Identification of the problem, formulation, implementation and evaluation of action plans
related to preventive and control measures.
 Monitoring of the health-related events for further planning.
Again, from the comparative point of view, both Health assessment and surveillance as well
as Health promotion primarily focusses on the various aspects related to improvement of
Health status. While, Health promotion involves inculcation of different strategies and plan
of actions. Health Assessment and Surveillance, on the other hand, encompasses around the
process of constant and vigorous monitoring and evaluation of the health related events,
plans and programs. Therefore, it can be said that Health promotion is the preliminary step to
Health Monitoring or Assesment.

Health Promotion
The Health Promotional Strategies of Newzealand aimed at achieving a healthy social
environment and health equity among the different sections of the population. It also emphasized
reducing the burden of both communicable and non-communicable diseases by maintaining a
balanced progression in the nutritional and health status. One such notable strategic program is
WAVE (Wellbeing and Vitality in Education), which ushered in the concept of education to
promote health, especially for children and young people(Calder et al.,2019). Other strategies
included the implementation of programs to improve the primary health care services of the
traditional ethnic community groups alongside the mainstream population. Health Promotion and
Health Protection are closely related. Health promotion focuss on improving thehealth status and
quality of life in a population by preventing diseases, controlling hazards, improving fitness and
well being. Health promotion activities are generally divided into health intervention strategies,
such as, health education, health protection. Therefore, while the former is mostly about planning
and formulation of strategies to promote health, the latter narrowly inseminates in providing
safety against different viable health ailments.
Health Protection
Health Protection refers to an array of public health activities that involve Ensuring the
safety and quality of food, water, air, and the general environment, along wth the prevention of
the transmission of communicable diseases. Toi Te Ora’s Health Protection service(Toi Te Ora -
Health Protection, 2020) is one of the 12 public health units across NewZealand which deals
with different aspects of environmental health that may affect human health along with the
management of communicable disease and planning of Health services. Likewise, Health
Protection and Preventive intervensions are overlapping and interconnected to a broader extent,

especially in terms of cause and effect. Thus, It can also be said that the preventive or protective
measures or strategies are a part of the health protection strataegies. Illustratively , if the
objectives of the strategies are directed for health protection, then those strategirs are a part of
the disease management and control, thereby , a part of preventive meaures.
Preventive Interventions
The governmental health sector of NewZealand has introduced various plans and
programs to encompass all the aspects of health (Ministry of Health NZ, 2020) The several
initiatives which are taken, included programs related to Immunization, Nutrition, Family Health
and Protection, Mobility action programmes as well as Tobacco Control program. Summatively,
preventive measures , being one of the significant roles and elements of Public Health , iis a
cumuliative outcome of health promotion and health protection strategies, which is being
monitored and observed through nutrition assessment and surveillance. In this way, a wide
spectrum of health care can be covered, encompassing all the sections of the population.

References
Ministry of Health NZ. (2020). Preventative health/wellness. Retrieved 13 March 2020, from
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/preventative-health-wellness
Calder, K., Begg, A., Thompson, L., Williams, D., Bidwell, S., & Brosnahan, N. (2019).
Education setting-based health promotion in New Zealand: evaluating the wellbeing and
vitality in education (WAVE) programme. Health promotion international, 34(2), 236-
247.
Toi Te Ora - Health Protection. (2020). Toi Te Ora - Health Protection. Retrieved 13 March
2020, from https://www.toiteora.govt.nz/health_protection
Goodyear-Smith, F., & Ashton, T. (2019). New Zealand health system: universalism struggles
with persisting inequities. The Lancet, 394(10196), 432-442.

Self Evaluation and Influence of Peer group and Team Work
Few weeks back, as a part of my curriculum, I had to participate in one of the groups of
our class that was formed for a Healthcare related activity. In my group, apart from me, there
were fourteen more members. Our task was to conduct research as well as a survey in our college
regarding the effects of junk foods and a sedentary lifestyle on health. For making our job easier
and result-orienting, we divided ourselves into three sub-groups. While one group focussed on
dealing with all the past researches relevant to the topic, the second group dealt with the survey
collection of data, and the third one was entitled to the task of the analysis of the collected data.
We also decided that at the end of the completion of the respective functions, we will be
gathering for a group discussion to talk about the final process. I was a part of the second sub-
group, and we conducted the survey over three-hundred students of our college for ten days.
After that, as decided, we gathered on the eleventh day with our collected data and the other
group with their collected literature reviews. Then, the data analysis took another ten days, and
finally, on the thirtieth day of that month, we completed our thesis writing. Moreover, we also
conducted a group presentation where we all put forth our respective inputs and roles regarding
the task. Therefore, this paper will be a reflective and retrospective viewpoint of my experiences
on being a part of a group-based activity. I will also put forth an evaluative, analytical, and
conclusive notion about the implications of such communal, especially on the concerning
individual
It still feels like a surprise whenever I thought of my experiences related to this group
task. InitiallyI was a bit apprehensive about participating in this group activity as it was
somewhat the first group activity of my life, where I participated full-fledgedly. Before that,

when I was in school, I never really could brought myself for participating in any group activity
as such. Even back in school, I got many opportunities, but my introvert nature somewhere
inhibited me from doing so. But, after being a part of this group task and sessions, things did
change, and that too for good. Every day, during this task, was like a challenge that gave me a
zeal, rendered me confident of breaking my shell. Although in the beginning, I was quite
reserved and inhibitive regarding my views. I was even skeptical about the fact of whether I will
be able to persist through this or not. Though, fortunately, the members of my group were
supportive and cooperative enough. They instilled confidence within myself, which turned out to
be an incentive for me. I participated in the data collection sessions, and I interviewed many
people through it. The more I interacted, the higher the enhancive was my spectrum of
experience and knowledge. Thereafter, when our entire group assembled for the next discussion,
I even took the lead in briefing the third sub-group regarding the collected data. Moreover, in the
final stage of the activity, which was the group presentation, I actively participated in putting
forth the inputs and contributions of our team in this activity as well as on the day when fifteen
of us presented our research project in front of our teachers. Overall, it was an overwhelmingly
surprising and fruitful experience for the entire group and me.
If I have to evaluate or dissect the pros and cons of this group activity, then the foremost
aspect which comes in my mind is its vivid and manifold positive impacts. Firstly, since this task
was a part of my academic curriculum, it allowed me to learn not only about the topics which
were a part of my curriculum but also helped me to enrich my knowledge about different other
aspects of those same topics, which was not that acquainted to me. Secondly, it also encouraged
and motivated me to tackle my weaknesses when working with unfamiliar groups. As it has been

said, that the importance of experiential learning is far-reaching, and indeed, my experience of
the group work has been valuable for me in various aspects. Thirdly, The tasks also gave me the
opportunity to come into contact with a variety of people with different kinds of thought
processes and experiences. Moreover, this helped all of us in learning new things every day. It
also sharpened and strengthened our communication skills that enabled our inter-personal
relationships to flourish more and also positively affected our professional goals. Apart from
this, the only negative or probable negative aspect of such group-based activities can be the
overshadowing of efforts or opinions of some members compared to that of others. This might be
valid and evident, especially for an introvert and less socially affined people. Though my
experience was an overwhelming exception, in many instances, some members find it
challenging to vocalize their thoughts and inputs and to share those with others. This not only
hampers themselves but also intervenes with the attainment of the designated goals of the group.
From the analytical point of view, the group-based task and activity in which I
participated, has been evaluative and functionally useful to a considerable extent. The entire
concept of working as a group and implementing the principles of Teamwork for achieving the
goals worked in all sense. If I analyze my performance in that activity or compare and contrast
my performance with that of others, in all aspects, it has laid a positive outcome. My assessment
scores related to this task, as well as that of their other members, was good enough. This
embarked on the positive consequences of Teamwork. Moreover, every member of every sub-
groups (within the leading group) not only affirmed to the decisions taken regarding the plan of
actions for the task but also showed ample support, cooperation, and coordination during the ‘
implementing-plans ‘ phase of the project. This again shed light on how effective was the
decision making as well as the decision-implementing aspects of our task-related activity. The

mutual trust and respect, along with the sense of responsibility among every member of the
group, also wiped away the probable ethical concerns which could have pertained otherwise.
Moreover, another analytical element that works as an essential factor in such group-based
activities is the sense of conflict that may arise due to cultural diversity as well as the difference
in opinions and behavioral demeanor. However, in my group, this aspect was also minimally
present as the conflictual thoughts of any member were dealt with utmost sensibility and
maturity. I remember about my experience regarding this, but the help and support I got, it
ultimately helped me to get over those conflicting thoughts of myself as well as those which
could have surfaced interpersonally, if not handled properly. Therefore the management of
Power struggle, that is, the tendency to assert domination over others and well the conflicting
thoughts were also managed tactfully. Summatively, the activity or, more specifically, the team
members helped me to analyze, introspect, and retrospect these vivid principles of group
dynamics lucidly.
Conclusively, I found the group work to be aligned to both the aspects of being
academically enriching and engaging as well as affined to the importance of teamwork and
communication. I have been fortunate enough to delve deeper into my behavior and personality
and also to modulate them for making myself a better social being. At the end of this task, I was
considerably successful in garnering self-confidence, particularly with regards to interactions
with unfamiliar people, of which I may otherwise have remained unaware. This will also enable
me to get through the remaining years of my academic life as well as in my future endeavors as a
health care expert or professional.
As apart of any future action plan , I would like to say that this entire process of
participating in a peer based group activity, in spite of some inhibitions, has helped me to grow,

learn and acquire more knowledge. The entire process,from participating in the activity to
gradually getting adaptive and finally acquiring both the knowledge and skill to be a part of such
activities , has been really fruitful and beneficial for me. Thus, in future also , whenever I wil get
an opportunity to be a part of such group based activities I will surely try to implant my acquired
knowledge , experiences and perceptions which I have garnered from this task , on to those
activities as well. Because , as it is said, self help is the best help. Therefore, Self evaluation
actually validates self understanding and self derivation of one’s abilities , strenghtsand
limitations. This , in thr long run, ultimately helps a person to learn , to achieve as well as to
grow more.