title: Empowerment evaluation of Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga Family Start: Improving service delivery

authors: Little, Gaylene Robina

subjects: Family Start

abstract: This thesis explores child maltreatment in New Zealand by considering service delivery of the Family Start programme at Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga through an empowerment evaluation. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the service delivery process of the Family Start programme at this site to inform the organization and other Family Start key agents of possible improvements to service delivery so that the Family Start programme is best able to reduce the risk factors that are known to influence child maltreatment in New Zealand. The best possible service delivery by kaupapa providers supports sustainability and the continuity of service with Māori through continual funding. The two objectives of this research are to look at how well the Family Start programme is implemented at Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga and to consider the cultural appropriateness of service delivery. Community psychology is the paradigm within which I position myself. I respect the values of community psychology that aim to improve the position of disadvantaged people through their participation in social change and community development. Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga is a kaupapa Māori provider and I see an empowerment evaluation as a tool for internal evaluation to assist organizations who value self determination in their own practice. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. There are two objectives to consider service delivery; firstly process aspects of service delivery are looked at and secondly the cultural relevance of service delivery to the population receiving the Family Start programme at this site. These are described as nine points about service delivery. The aim is to provide an empowerment evaluation for Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga to inform, assist and improve service delivery of the Family Start programme in a culturally appropriate manner. The findings suggest better understanding is needed by Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga Family Start staff, about the programme intentions, the use of tools such as Born to Learn/Ahuru Mōwai, individual family plans, service delivery levels, maintaining health records and ways to encourage collaboration between agencies. Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga are shown in this research to be reaching the intended population for the Family Start programme, and service delivery appears to be culturally relevant to the clients on the programme at this time. The findings are limited by the fact that access to some information was restricted by Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga Family Start management. Consequently, this research looked only at service delivery, and not the benefits of or barriers to the actual programme. The effectiveness of the programme in reducing child maltreatment is important but could not be measured in this research. Reducing child maltreatment is the main aim of the Family Start programme and would be measured through client outcomes. This research considered service delivery to see if the Family Start programme is offered optimally to assist the aim of reducing child maltreatment.

text: Empowerment evaluation of Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga Family Start: Improving service delivery This thesis explores child maltreatment in New Zealand by considering service delivery of the Family Start programme at Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga through an empowerment evaluation. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the service delivery process of the Family Start programme at this site to inform the organization and other Family Start key agents of possible improvements to service delivery so that the Family Start programme is best able to reduce the risk factors that are known to influence child maltreatment in New Zealand. The best possible service delivery by kaupapa providers supports sustainability and the continuity of service with Māori through continual funding. The two objectives of this research are to look at how well the Family Start programme is implemented at Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga and to consider the cultural appropriateness of service delivery. Community psychology is the paradigm within which I position myself. I respect the values of community psychology that aim to improve the position of disadvantaged people through their participation in social change and community development. Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga is a kaupapa Māori provider and I see an empowerment evaluation as a tool for internal evaluation to assist organizations who value self determination in their own practice. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. There are two objectives to consider service delivery; firstly process aspects of service delivery are looked at and secondly the cultural relevance of service delivery to the population receiving the Family Start programme at this site. These are described as nine points about service delivery. The aim is to provide an empowerment evaluation for Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga to inform, assist and improve service delivery of the Family Start programme in a culturally appropriate manner. The findings suggest better understanding is needed by Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga Family Start staff, about the programme intentions, the use of tools such as Born to Learn/Ahuru Mōwai, individual family plans, service delivery levels, maintaining health records and ways to encourage collaboration between agencies. Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga are shown in this research to be reaching the intended population for the Family Start programme, and service delivery appears to be culturally relevant to the clients on the programme at this time. The findings are limited by the fact that access to some information was restricted by Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga Family Start management. Consequently, this research looked only at service delivery, and not the benefits of or barriers to the actual programme. The effectiveness of the programme in reducing child maltreatment is important but could not be measured in this research. Reducing child maltreatment is the main aim of the Family Start programme and would be measured through client outcomes. This research considered service delivery to see if the Family Start programme is offered optimally to assist the aim of reducing child maltreatment.

year: 2010

title: Sharemilking with the Te Raparahi Lands Trust (Wāotū)

authors: Hutcheson, Gail Yvonne

subjects: Place

abstract: This paper discusses sharemilking  in New Zealand.

text: Sharemilking with the Te Raparahi Lands Trust (Wāotū) This paper discusses sharemilking  in New Zealand.

year: 2017

title: Who cares about carers? Experiences of community mental health support workers from a feminist perspective

authors: Taylor, Gabrielle Elizabeth

subjects: Mental health support work

abstract: Research regarding care labour is a relatively new area of interest. The long-term availability of a robust community care workforce has recently become a topical concern amongst many policy makers, scholars and activists in western countries as the demand for care is expected to expand rapidly over the next few decades. Care workforce shortages are likely to pose a significant problem as the demand for care is escalating at the same time as traditional sources of unpaid care are diminishing. A high proportion of both paid and unpaid care is still undertaken by women. Research indicates that labour undertaken by workers in caring occupations is generally undervalued, unrecognised and unrewarded, which contributes to on-going discrepancies in society such as the gender wage gap. This research focuses on the care work carried out by community mental health support workers. The aim of this research was to explore a feminist perspective, which states that care work is devalued by society due to it being similar in nature to the unpaid domestic labour that has traditionally been undertaken by women.  More specifically this research aimed to explore the extent to which this feminist theory can be applied to community mental health support work in New Zealand and the impact that such an association may have on the value placed on this work. Fourteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with community mental health support workers from regions across New Zealand. In order to determine the value placed on this work, support workers were asked questions designed to elicit information about their working conditions. A thematic data analysis was carried out on the interviews. The results of this research indicate that support workers are extremely dissatisfied with the low wages attributed to this work. Working with service users and other colleagues are the most rewarding aspects of support work, which may have a buffering affect on the marginalising work conditions. Problems inherent in the mental health system were identified. The high staff turnover of mental health support workers and the associated problems with this are also highlighted. Low levels of supervision is characteristic of support work and training is commonly perceived as too bland and generalised. The safety of support workers is often not a high priority. The presence of hierarchy within heath care organisations was also a common theme to emerge. Poor mental health funding is deemed an important contributor to the issues related to community support work. Suggestions for addressing the working conditions of support work are put forward. Further research with larger sample sizes is required to validate the findings. However the results are consistent with previous literature and lend support to the notion that mental health support work is not a valued occupation. This research contributes to the limited scientific knowledge base regarding structural gender discrimination and New Zealand based community mental health support work. Moreover this research provides a unique and rare insight of this work from the perspective of mental health support workers themselves.

text: Who cares about carers? Experiences of community mental health support workers from a feminist perspective Research regarding care labour is a relatively new area of interest. The long-term availability of a robust community care workforce has recently become a topical concern amongst many policy makers, scholars and activists in western countries as the demand for care is expected to expand rapidly over the next few decades. Care workforce shortages are likely to pose a significant problem as the demand for care is escalating at the same time as traditional sources of unpaid care are diminishing. A high proportion of both paid and unpaid care is still undertaken by women. Research indicates that labour undertaken by workers in caring occupations is generally undervalued, unrecognised and unrewarded, which contributes to on-going discrepancies in society such as the gender wage gap. This research focuses on the care work carried out by community mental health support workers. The aim of this research was to explore a feminist perspective, which states that care work is devalued by society due to it being similar in nature to the unpaid domestic labour that has traditionally been undertaken by women.  More specifically this research aimed to explore the extent to which this feminist theory can be applied to community mental health support work in New Zealand and the impact that such an association may have on the value placed on this work. Fourteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with community mental health support workers from regions across New Zealand. In order to determine the value placed on this work, support workers were asked questions designed to elicit information about their working conditions. A thematic data analysis was carried out on the interviews. The results of this research indicate that support workers are extremely dissatisfied with the low wages attributed to this work. Working with service users and other colleagues are the most rewarding aspects of support work, which may have a buffering affect on the marginalising work conditions. Problems inherent in the mental health system were identified. The high staff turnover of mental health support workers and the associated problems with this are also highlighted. Low levels of supervision is characteristic of support work and training is commonly perceived as too bland and generalised. The safety of support workers is often not a high priority. The presence of hierarchy within heath care organisations was also a common theme to emerge. Poor mental health funding is deemed an important contributor to the issues related to community support work. Suggestions for addressing the working conditions of support work are put forward. Further research with larger sample sizes is required to validate the findings. However the results are consistent with previous literature and lend support to the notion that mental health support work is not a valued occupation. This research contributes to the limited scientific knowledge base regarding structural gender discrimination and New Zealand based community mental health support work. Moreover this research provides a unique and rare insight of this work from the perspective of mental health support workers themselves.

year: 2015