DHB wants one stop shop for Maori health

The Waitemata District Health Board wants to know what front line health care Maori want.

Edith Mc Neill, the manager of Maori primary health care services, says there are currently six PHOs covering Maori in west Auckland and North Shore.

The board plans to cut that number to one or two.

She says a series of hui will be held next month on the best way to proceed.

“We don't have all the answers for Maori sitting inside the DHB which is why the process we are about to go to is very important. What we do know is we have whanau across the district we want to ensure have some consistent service delivery,” Mrs McNeill says.

TEACHERS AND WHANAU GET LESSONS IN NCEA PATHWAY

The Qualifications Authority is giving Maori teachers and whanau a better understanding of how the National Certificate of Educational Achievement works.

Daryn Bean, the NZQA's deputy CEO Maori, says many people still don't know how to get the best for their rangatahi out of the 20-year-old secondary school assessment system.

He says a series of whanau workshops is giving them a chance to catch up.

“Had a lot of new teachers coming to the workshops learning about assessment, learning about moderation, learning about what’s available on the qualification frameworks, there’s the NCEA but there’s also the Maori traditional areas and how they can incorporate those into qualifications, so there’s lots of learning happening for kaiako, and they’re really appreciating it,” Mr Bean says.

The key to handling NCEA is packaging units so rangatahi have enough credits each year to move up the levels.

MAORI WOMEN’S SEVENS GREAT TOURISM PROMOTION

The coach of the Maori Womens Sevens rugby squad says New Zealand Tourism missed out on a golden opportunity by not backing the team on its latest overseas tour.

Peter Joseph says the team has dominated the Hong Kong women's seven's tournament for several years, and its first foray to the Roma Tournament in Italy achieved a similar result.

He says their impact as they swept aside the opposition was extraordinary.

“When you see them on the field and you see not only their playing ability but that they know they are ambassadors for their whanau, their culture and their country as well, you see they put everything into it and when they achieve that result, it’s wonderful,” Mr Joseph says.

He says because of the cultural angle, the Aotearoa Maori Womens Sevens team drew extraordinary media interest during its time in Italy.

HISTORIC PLACES MOVES ON WAAHI TAPU DAMAGE

The Historic Places Trust says it's considering a prosecution over stock damage to a south Taranaki pa site.

Senior archaeologist Rick McGovern-Wilson says the trust is investigating whether permanent harm was done to earthworks at Te Ruaki Pa near Hawera when a sharemilker employed by the receivers of Crafar Farms ran cows on the site during wet weather.

He says it serves as a warning of the need to protect such areas

“This is an outstanding pa site. It’s two or three hundred metres long, it sits along the crest of a ridge. It has quite large ditch and bank defensive systems around it and it’s big enough and important enough that it’s actually marked on the Q21 topographic map, and you can see it on Google earth,” Dr McGovern-Wilson says.

The Trust will be taking the matter up with the receivers and the South Taranaki district council after a senior archaeologist has investigated the full extent of damage next week.

MAORI HIT HARDER BY DEAF AID DEFAULT

The Audiologists Society is calling on Maori organisations to make a noise about a change in Accident Compensation Commission policy that older people whose hearing is affected by noisy workplaces will have to pay for hearing aids.

Society president Lesley Hindmarsh says the ACC's decision not to pay what it considers is age-related hearing loss is unscientific.

She says it will particulary affect Maori workers.

“Those Maori workers that have worked in more manual professions and factory workers, farm, forestry, if they have any damage to their hearing, when they come to majke a claim for a hearing aid and there’s an age component, they would have to pay something towards that,” Ms Hindmarsh says.

Maori are already less likely to take up their entitlement for hearing aids, and the top-up demanded by ACC will make that situation worse.

NGA PAE O TE MARAMATANGA OFFERS FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIPS

Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga, the Maori centre for research excellence, has teamed up with the Fulbright Foundation to offer scholarships for travel and study in the United States.

Director Charles Royal, a past Fulbright scholar, says while the scholarships are funded by the centre, they are backed by the full resources of the Fulbright organisation.

He says the country's best students often end up in the Fulbright system.

“The excellence theme around Fulbright is the perfect fit for Nga Pae. We’re certainly interested in uplifting the participation of Maori in research but we have a specific interest to do with research excellence and pathways to excellence and Fulbright is iconic in this pathways to excellence around research and scholarship,” Dr Royal says.

Applications for the Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga senior Fulbright Scholarship close on July 1.