Porirua hui for rangatahi hopes to boost numbers of Māori health workers

A three-day hui in Porirua is hoping to inspire rangatahi Māori who want to work in the health and disability sector and boost the number of clinically trained Māori professionals in the future.

Te Manu Korokī Hui Rangatahi gathered more than 100 Māori high schools students from across Aotearoa who registered with Kia Ora Hauora, a national Māori workforce development programme, that they wanted a career in the health sector.

The hui included interactive visits to the simulation suites at Whitireia Polytechnic, meetings with tertiary education providers, and meetings with Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) and young health professionals who started their careers through Kia Ora Hauora.

Year 12 student Aila Dunn​ (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Whātua), who wants to be a midwife, travelled from Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) to be at the event.

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“I love seeing pēpi, don’t matter what ethnicity they are, being born,” she said. “I love taking care of people so that’s a big thing for me.”

The hui had made her more determined to chase her dreams, Dunn said.

“It’s just so cool seeing a lot of Māori strive and thrive to become something in the medical industry.”

Kauri Barbarich​ (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Raukawa), a year 12 student from the Bay of Plenty, is hoping to study medicine. The hui had widened his options on what he wanted to be, Barbarich said.

“I was kind of surprised with how many Māori are here because there’s not much Māori in the medical industry,” he said. “Seeing all these people has really made me happy.”

Kia Ora Hauora’s national coordination centre programme manager Cazna Luke​ (Ngāi Tahu, Te Rarawa) said there were too few Māori working across the health and disability sector. Māori only make up 4.4% of the medicine workforce, while 8% of nurses are Māori.

“We need to be at 17.5% which would be proportionate to our population,” she said. “There is no professional discipline that we are doing okay.”

Luke also said having mātauranga Māori in the health and disability sector was the best way to improve Māori health outcomes and deliver culturally responsive health care, and she was pleased the next generation was being offered the opportunity.

“It’s really important that the workforce is reflective of our communities,” she said. “When we work with whānau … in times of stress, having a Māori workforce supporting their care just makes a difference, in terms of language, the culture and their presence.”