Pegasus Health Pacific Health Work Plan
The Pegasus Pacific Health Work Plan has its foundation in the Waitaha Canterbury Pacific Health Framework. The Framework’s six enablers provide the areas of action. Each area of action has objectives, activities and measures specific to; the framework’s shared outcomes and priority areas.
- Whānau Ora: Pasifika ‘āiga, kāiga, magafaoa, kōpū tangata, vuvale, fāmili are supported to achieve maximum health and wellbeing.
- Access to care: Primary health care services are fully accessible to Pacific peoples.
- Workforce: Build the capacity and capability of existing and potential primary care workforce to meet the health and health care needs of Pacific peoples.
- Understanding our population: The health and health care needs of Pacific peoples are understood and effective strategies that contribute to maximum health outcomes are identified and implemented.
- Cross sector and social service linkages: Pegasus and Pegasus-affiliated primary health care providers, work and link with Pacific communities and across sectors to achieve optimum health outcomes for Pacific peoples.
- Leadership: Pacific peoples and their allies are identified, supported, and developed for key leadership roles in health and associated services.
Activities within the work plan include:
- HPV immunisation coverage
- B4 School Check coverage
- Cervical screening rates
- Child and youth health
- Development of a comprehensive cultural competency programme
- Use of Pacific demographic data as part of planning – to ensure Pacific peoples are consistently considered in all planning
- Workforce development – Pegasus Health Workforce Development Scholarships, Pacific leadership development.
Pacific Reference Group
The Pacific Reference Group is a Waitaha wide health reference group that consists of primary care organisations, clinicians, community organisations, Pacific health providers and Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waitaha. The group's main aim is equitable health outcomes for Pacific peoples. They provide leadership, advice, and influence so that Pacific people's health is consistently considered throughout the whole of the Waitaha health system.
Pegasus Health Pacific Leadership
Pegasus has a key role dedicated to improving health outcomes and reducing health inequalities, and to supporting Pacific peoples in Waitaha to flourish.
The Pacific Health Manager provides leadership for Pacific people’s health within Pegasus. This includes advice across the organisation on best practice ways to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities for Pacific peoples, workforce development initiatives for the Pacific peoples' health workforce, and development of cultural competency development education and training.
As well as playing an important role within the organisation and progressing many of the activities within the work plan, Pegasus Health’s Pacific Health Manager works closely with Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waitaha and the managers from Ōtautahi Christchurch and Waitaha primary health organisations (PHOs), to help deliver on our shared outcomes and priorities. The Pacific Health Manager also supports the Pacific Reference Group, a Waitaha-wide health advisory group.
Pegasus Health Cultural Competency Education Programme
Coupled with addressing issues of access, a culturally competent approach to primary health addresses inequalities in health care and barriers between different communities and health care systems to ensure a culturally competent workforce.
Specific action to address the cultural competence of health systems and the health workforce is critical and will ensure that health services meet the needs of different ethnic groups and that the services are designed and delivered in a way that people will choose to use them.
Pegasus has a cultural competency education programme that supports general practice teams to understand cultural competency and safety in order to improve access and the health of the enrolled Pacific population.
