Today Friday 3 December, we are celebrating International Day of Disabled People by recommitting as an organisation to ensuring CM Health is accessible and inclusive.
This year's United Nations theme for the day is ‘leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post-COVID-19 world.’
One and four kiwis identify as having disabilities. We know disabled people face significant challenges when it comes to equal opportunities and outcomes, and COVID-19 has brought accessibility and inclusivity to the forefront more than ever.
In 2019 CM Health was awarded the Accessibility Tick, and this year we remain committed to reducing the disparities for disabled people and improving equity.
Read CM Health’s recommitment statement to accessibility and the Accessibility Tick below from CEO Margie Apa.
Did you know that approximately one in four New Zealanders has a physical, sensory, learning, mental health, or other impairment?
One of Counties Manukau Health’s greatest strengths is our diversity and how we embrace and celebrate this, especially those with disabilities. As the primary funder and provider of healthcare for the Counties Manukau region, disability affects all aspects of our organisation.
One of our equity goals is achieving equity for disabled people. Achieving equity relies on us continuing to build a more diverse, inclusive, and culturally responsive workforce and environment where disabled people can thrive and have an equal opportunity to achieve their goals and aspirations.
What does this mean for CM Health? It means three things:
- Ensuring our services and environments are accessible and meet the care and support needs of disabled people;
- Creating a culture that is inclusive and welcoming of disabled people, and enables choice and control; and
- Developing our organisational capabilities to be culturally responsive to diversity and put patients at the centre of care
Disabled People in our Workforce
Diversity is about welcoming all ages, cultures, genders, ethnicities, and people with disabilities. An organisational culture that embraces diversity brings out the best in our people and helps us provide better health care services.
CM Health is committed to employing a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the community we serve. You have already seen some initiatives we have in place to attract more Maaori and Pacific people into our workforce because this reflects the community we serve. We are currently expanding our diversity and inclusion workforce initiatives to include people who identify as having a disability.
Accessibility Tick
CM Health received the Accessibility Tick in 2019. We continue to honour this recognition through our commitment to accessibility and our progress towards becoming a more accessible organisation inclusive of people with disabilities.
Achieving and maintaining the Accessibility Tick involves a commitment to reviewing our organisational practices using an accessibility lens and acting to improve these. We remain committed to implementing a plan to make changes and improvements to build a more inclusive culture and environment for people who identify as having a disability.
We are committed to complying with relevant accessibility and disability legislation and continuously improving our standards as an organisation. We will continue to achieve success in this area by working with stakeholders and employees on matters that may impact their accessibility needs.