Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora’s Healthy Families NZ is marking ten years of impact with the release of an impact report ‘Reshaping our systems for a healthier Aotearoa New Zealand’.
Deborah Woodley, Director Starting Well, Health New Zealand says the report is a measure of the collective growth, learnings, progressive wins and a celebration of kaimahi, partners and communities that brings the Healthy Families NZ movement to life.
“Ten years ago, Healthy Families NZ marked the beginning of a new and innovative approach to improving health and wellbeing, with a focus on supporting communities to choose healthy foods, stay physically active, live smokefree, minimise the harm from alcohol and boost mental health and wellbeing,” says Deborah.
“We know that in healthy environments, children learn better, workplaces are more productive, people are happier and healthier, and communities thrive.”
The large-scale prevention initiative is community-led, systems-focused and grounded in mātauranga Māori. The approach recognises that communities are best placed to understand and prioritise their own health.
All the Healthy Families NZ locations are connected through this common approach and principles, which creates a prevention movement.
Selah Hart, Head of Public and Population Health, Hauora Māori Service says that the 10-year impact report shows that across all locations of Healthy Families NZ there is an intentional focus on Māori and Pacific health and equity.
“The approach to working effectively for equity in the relational sphere is grounded in the understanding that relationships are fundamental to our wellbeing and sense of belonging. We know that understanding relationships is fundamental to our health and wellbeing,” says Selah.
Healthy Families NZ holds a unique space in the health system, recognising the value and impact of initiatives to improve health and wellbeing, generate the most sustainable change when delivered at an environmental and system level.
Healthy Families NZ recognises that many of the conditions hold complex problems, and that no single organisation, sector or community can work alone in achieving pae ora (healthy futures).
The 2022 Summative Evaluation Report describes the findings of the initiative between 2018 – 2021. The report shows that Healthy Families NZ is delivering a unique and game-changing approach for the health and wellbeing of communities.
The evaluation highlights the impact and outcomes of the initiative, such as:
- contributing to improved health and wellbeing in their communities, for example there were improvements in child health and a reduction in tobacco use in adults, there has been progress on positive policy change at local government level (such as the development and implementation of Hutt City Council and Upper Hutt City Council’s smokefree and vapefree policy), and the majority of Healthy Families NZ locations were improving or at least doing better than the rest of New Zealand and most areas showed changes in physical activity indicators.
- helping to shift power to communities and enabling them to have a greater voice/ownership and better health outcomes, for example Healthy Families South Auckland led the development of the Good Food Roadmap, which is a plan which provides communities and partners a pathway towards more food resilient communities, and recently Healthy Families Invercargill have established a local Kai Collective to work through the strategy and implement local solutions to increase access to and the consumption of kai.
- delivering significant value for money and is contributing to a reduction in the economic burden of chronic disease, with the cost of the initiative relatively small or even marginal compared to other programme funding in the prevention field.
Reshaping our systems for a healthier Aotearoa New Zealand is available by visiting: www.healthyfamiliesnz.org/10-years-of-impact