We work closely with local health and social service providers to connect the services in the west with consumers, share health information with the community, and collect feedback to inform service planning.
We provide a unique opportunity for local community and service providers to attend public forums and focus groups — to learn about the health services available and those being planned for the west, and to give feedback and identify gaps for consumers.
We participate in, and source, Health Consumer Representatives to sit as a consumer member of a committee, project or event — voicing consumer perspectives and taking part in decision making on behalf of consumers.
We provide regular Consumer Health Literacy reviews of patient information, to ensure the content uses clear, simple language, removes health jargon, and promotes the use of colour, diagrams and photos where appropriate. Keeping information simple helps families understand the health information and services they need to make appropriate health decisions for their wellbeing.
Bridging the information gap between hospital services and services provided in the community. We run quarterly Community Health Services Networking meetings online, enabling networking between community health services, hospital and primary care health professionals to increase their knowledge of local health services available to patients in the community. Health professionals can share this knowledge with clients and their families.
We attend local community meetings to share health information and gather feedback directly from the community on local health issues. This feedback helps us identify systemic gaps that affect the patient journey when accessing services in primary and secondary care.
We provide information in a variety of formats for easy access — posted newsletters, email networks, our website and social media — supporting the community to be better informed about the health services available to them.
Alongside our Babies Out West brochure, we now provide the new Waitemata Community Support brochure on our website, guiding the community to many of the services available in our area. Most of the services in this booklet are free or low-cost.