Canterbury’s general practices find having Te Tumu Waiora roles in their practices overwhelmingly positive and of great benefit to their patients and teams, a recent survey shows.
Te Tumu Waiora is a new way of delivering wellbeing, mental health and addictions support through general practice. Ninety eight percent of respondents agreed that having a Health Improvement Practitioner (HIP) in practice was beneficial to patients and 90 percent agreed Health Coaches were also beneficial.
One respondent commented that: “The HIP is so helpful for patients who are ‘stuck’ or distressed. [Our HIP] is amazing at helping [patients] find a way to become ‘unstuck’ whether it’s because they are depressed or have just lost motivation…. The Health Coach is great at sharing the load as they have time to encourage and give lifestyle advice. It’s fabulous to have someone enthusiastic to help motivate people in this area.”
Similar numbers of respondents also believed the benefits flowed to the practice team too.
Deb Bradshaw, Te Tumu Waiora Clinical Lead at Pegasus Health, wants practice staff to know that there’s no wrong referral to the Te Tumu Waiora team.
In 2019, Deb was recruited for the pilot of Te Tumu Waiora as a Health Improvement Practitioner (HIP) based out of Piki Te Ora in Linwood. She believes very strongly in the values[1]based approach that HIPs, Health Coaches and Support Workers have.
“We really connect with the values of the person, because if you’re not connecting with what’s valuable to the patient then they’re not going to make any changes,” Deb said.
HIPs, Health Coaches and Support Workers operate as a team, helping patients overcome both the psychological and physical barriers to their goals. Deb states that the model the Te Tumu Waiora team works under is designed specifically for general practice and primary care.
“A referral to a HIP or Health Coach should be seen as an extension of the GP consult – an opportunity to delve deeper into concerns that can’t be addressed in a 15 minute GP appointment,” Deb said. “Every patient leaves with a plan that’s designed to move them forward from that moment where they’re stuck with their wellbeing.”
No wrong referral
Deb Bradshaw, Clinical Lead for Te Tumu Waiora wants practice staff to know that there is no wrong referral to the Te Tumu Waiora team. If the referral is more appropriate for another member of the Te Tumu Waiora team, they will warmly handover the patient to the right person.
In 2019, Deb was a part of the Te Tumu Waiora pilot program as a Health Improvement Practitioner (HIP) based at Piki Te Ora in Linwood. She believes very strongly in the primary care behavioural health model as this is a values-based approach that HIPs, Health Coaches and Support Workers use.
“We really connect with the values of the person, because if you’re not connecting with what’s valuable to the patient then they’re not going to make any changes,” Deb said.
HIPs, Health Coaches and Support Workers operate as a team, helping patients overcome both the psychological, physical, and emotional barriers to their wellbeing goals.
“A referral to a HIP or Health Coach should be seen as an extension of the GP consult – an opportunity to delve deeper into concerns that can’t be addressed in a 15 minute GP appointment,” Deb said. “Every patient leaves with a plan that’s designed to move them forward in their wellbeing.”