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A Workforce Development Project designed to boost the numbers of Pacific and Maori people in physiotherapy and occupational therapy has made a promising beginning.

From left: Iris Feilo-naepi, Janice Mueller, Alexis Cameron and Kristine Nicol.

The project has two components – the provision of postgraduate training opportunities for current Maori and Pacific staff and a mentoring and support programme for Maori and Pacific AUT undergraduates.

“The project has made a very good start,” says Janice Mueller, Director Allied Health at the Auckland DHB.

“Originally the intention was to focus on development opportunities for current staff but we had so few Maori and Pacific staff that we had to broaden our focus to include therapy students. Over the last 18 months we have gone from one to ten students in the programme.”

Under this scheme, Maori and Pacific occupational therapy and physiotherapy students are offered paid employment in the semester breaks in the Auckland DHBs as OT and PT health assistants and are supported in these work placements.

“The DHBs are frequently seen as unfriendly and not particularly understanding of views of the world which are different to those of the majority culture,” says Janice. “This project attempts to put some cultural support in place for these students. Our Maori and Pacific teams and our social workers have been very supportive in helping the students settle in and understand the environment.

“The challenge is to create an appropriate environment from a cultural point of view to help transition these students into the workplace. We have so much to learn from them. It’s really important that they develop confidence to function in a Maori or Pacific context and as a health professional. That’s a big challenge for the students and the DHB.

“What’s critical is that we do not lose these students. If they move onto a different place in the health sector, that’s okay but what I’d hate to happen is to lose them completely from the health sector or the profession. That would be the ultimate in failure.”

The statistics show just how great the shortage of Pacific health professionals in these fields is. While 12% of the Auckland DHB population are Pacific peoples, ADHB’s 2003 staff figures for OT and PT combined show that only 1.6% of staff were Pacific. In actual numbers, this translated to just one physiotherapist and no occupational therapists in the Auckland DHB in 2003.

Kristine Nicol, Physiotherapy Professional Leader and project liaison person, hopes the project will see more students “ultimately coming to work here.

“The presence of more Maori and Pacific therapists will lead to better relationships among staff and better relationships with our patients. We need to work together to develop a better way of caring for our patients. Ultimately we are in a healthcare system and we are about patients and what is best for them. If we can do that by learning different things about each other, that has to be good.”

The scarcity of Maori and Pacific therapy staff has made the road difficult for the first students, says Kristine.

“The ideal would be for these students to work alongside Maori and Pacific practitioners but unfortunately that is not possible at present. One of the aims of this project is to increase the percentage of Maori and Pacific staff so we can provide better cultural support for students in future.

“This project enables the students to develop a relationship with the DHB. When they graduate, they are familiar with the DHB, they have been exposed to the environment and it is a lot easier to come and work here. Of those who have graduated so far, we have been able to attract three people to come and work here as employees which is really good.

“We are learning all the time and seeing what we can do to be more culturally supportive. The students are helping us improve our cultural awareness and understanding. Recently, for example, we have been looking at our recruitment procedures and seeing how we can be more responsive.”

Kristine said that the goal was to have healthcare practitioners with Maori and Pacific backgrounds working much more closely with their communities, so that patients had a choice of practitioners.

“Only in this way can we meet the needs of Pacific people who are more comfortable with Pacific healthcare workers who know how to deal with them in culturally appropriate ways.”

Bigger Things in Mind 

Alexis Cameron is of Samoan Ma¯ori descent and has just taken up a physiotherapist position at Auckland hospital.

The Workforce Development Project has been a great boost for Maori and Pacific students and really helps to keep them motivated, says Alexis.

“Overall, lots of students drop out from the physiotherapy course. The numbers go from 200 to 100 over the course of the four years. There are so few Maori and Pacific students anyway that you can’t afford too many to drop out.”

Alexis signed up for the physiotherapy course because of a long-standing interest in sports. Since then she has realised just how versatile physiotherapy is and is now motivated by a keen desire to help Maori and Pacific people in the future.

The course itself was academically very challenging and competitive. It was also difficult “being one of the few brown
faces in the course,” says Alexis.

“This project really helped build our confidence. After my first stint at the ADHB, I went back to university and I felt like an equal. I felt just as worthy to be a physiotherapist as my European counterparts.

“I found it very difficult before that. I couldn’t stop thinking I was the only brown person in the room and that’s really hard. After working here, I got to know what the role involved and I began to network. I went back to class with a lot more confidence.”

Alexis’s workplace experience made her aware of just how much she could help her people.

“I realised just how much I can do for my people. It’s not all about me. It’s about what I can do for my own culture. So going back to university, it didn’t matter that I was the only brown person in the class. I had bigger things in mind.”

Making Help Available

Helping Pacific clients and their care-givers to access the health services that are available is a strong motivator for occupational therapist, Iris Feilo-Naepi.

“I don’t really think of myself as a pioneer. I just want to help Pacific people to access the services that are available. Access is a big issue. Many Pacific people don’t realise the help that is out there and they rely totally on their family units. It’s important that they have the choice of getting help if they need it.”

Since July, Iris has worked as a member of the mental health services team at the Greenlane Clinical Centre, with responsibilities for older people in Pacific communities. She recently graduated with a Bachelor of Health Science (in Occupational Therapy) from AUT and took part in the Pacific Island Development Programme at ADHB.

“It’s really good that a programme like this was developed. It helped prepare us for what the workforce would be like and gave us a foot in the door so people know who you are.”

The three-year degree programme at AUT was challenging, says Iris, who had previously worked in the health sector in an administrative role.

“I didn’t know much about the course, other than what I read in the prospectus. I really enjoyed the course but committing yourself to a three-year programme is a big thing. Going without a regular salary for that time is not easy – you have to make sacrifices.

“Also, there were not many Pacific Island people in the health workforce that you could work alongside. There wasn’t much cultural support. But in saying that, I found that health workers in general were always willing to take you with them and help you learn.”

Iris, a New Zealand-born Niuean, sees her future working among Pacific clients and care-givers. She says her work as an occupational therapist is one way of keeping in touch with her Niuean community.

“I’m not fluent in Niuean but I can understand the language. I thought that if I took on this profession and worked among an older generation of Niueans, it would enable me to converse with them and interact with them.”

Iris has been greatly encouraged by the warm reception she has received from Pacific clients. “It’s been really nice to feel wanted and for these people to have the option of whether they want me there.”

She has received a lot of family support in developing her new career “even though they didn’t know exactly what I was doing. All they knew is that I was doing a course like nursing but it wasn’t nursing. They know I’m helping people and are very proud of that.”

Iris says she chose to be a therapist in part as a way of thanking her grandparents “who came from the islands to give their children a better education.

“I felt I could give something back to them by doing this. They left everything they knew in Niue to come to a foreign land and start up their family again. So when I graduated I dedicated my graduation to my grandfather.” 

I realised just how much I can do for my people. It’s not all about me. It’s about what I can do for my own culture.

Alexis Cameron, physiotherapist

Many Pacific people don’t realise the help that is out there and they rely totally on their family units. It’s important that they have the choice of getting help if they need it.

Iris Feilo-Naepi, occupational therapist

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