In conjunction with the Youth Interagency Project, AIMHI School Principals and
the Ministry of Education, we are developing and implementing the Health School
initiative.
This initiative has given us an opportunity to work in partnership with the
schools. It will also demonstrate that the high needs of students can be
addressed by a wide range of agencies working co-operatively and in a
co-ordinated manner, increasing synergy and improving health, educational and
wellbeing outcomes for both the students and the community.
We agreed as an interagency group to focus on the AIMHI Health Community
School's initiative as phase one of the Youth Interagency Project.
The rationale for this is as follows:
-
creates the opportunity to work alongside a new initiative - (AIMHI and
interagency initiative which is creating the opportunity to work collaboratively
with other sectors - and enabling us to create a successful synergy between the
two projects).
-
the AIMHI schools are located in the areas of greatest deprivation - (Decile
1 schools in Deprivation 10 health areas).
-
a large population of the students are Maori and Pacific peoples.
-
a review of the health status report supports working in the areas of
Mangere, Otara, Otahuhu and Papatoetoe (high Priority health areas).
With effective co-ordination of health, education and social services, we may
be able to improve the level of care received by individual students and ensure
that they access a range of school developed initiatives which will result in
improved health and educational achievement. With the adoption of a Health
Community Schools model, it is anticipated that there will be increased parental
participation and engagement with the school.
We anticipate the following outcomes could be
achieved from the combined projects:
-
Increased achievement gains
-
Improved attendance
-
Decreased dropout rates
-
Decreased suspension rates
-
Reductions in high risk behaviours
The implementation of the project includes the following (please note
that many of the processes outlined below have been completed in conjunction with
the Youth Interagency Project):
Consultation: Consultation has occurred with the Principals,
1902 Students and over 300 Parents, Teachers and Board Members. Feedback from
the consultation clearly identified specific needs that can be addressed by
working co-operatively (undertaken in conjunction with the Youth Interaction
Project (YIP).
Prioritisation: The Prioritisation process for the AIMHI schools
identified the top ten needs for Students, Parents and Staff as detailed in out
implementation/action plan. This process involved Parents, Pacific groups, Maori
groups and young people.
Service Delivery Model: Developed a model of service delivery
that addresses the needs of the community, schools, students, Maori and Pacific
peoples and is effective within the school environment.
Stocktake of Services: A complete stocktake and assessment of
all health, welfare and social services operating within the community will be
undertaken - in order to identify gaps (undertaken in conjunction with YIP).
Gap Analysis: Complete a gap analysis for the AIMHI schools in
order to identify health, welfare and social services as well in order to
identify what is currently working well for the communities (strengths based
approach). The gap analysis identified several priority areas as well as
services that were working well.
Needs Assessment: A comprehensive needs assessment is underway
which is providing information on the issues identified from the
consultation (this included the compilation of statistical information - which
has supported the implementation) (undertaken in conjunction with YIP).
About the DHB
