COMMUNICATIONS

Media Release - 23/01/07

Health Recruitment Drive Targets Young Māori

The Canterbury District Health Board is taking the lead on behalf of the South Island’s six DHBs in developing an innovative new recruitment programme to attract more young Māori into health careers.

The one-year Te Wai Pounamu Recruitment Specialist Project, led by the Mokowhiti Consultancy, targets Year 9-11 Māori students throughout the South Island and aims to challenge the perception that careers in health are limited to being a doctor or a nurse.

Cazna Luke, Kaiwhakahaere for Mokowhiti Consultancy, says, “we want to get the message across that there are many exciting career opportunities available within the health sector, other than the traditional nurse or doctor.  We want to encourage young Māori to think about careers like health management, legal services and roles in promoting healthy lifestyles. Our aim is to catch students before they make subject decisions at high school which may later mean pathways into health careers are closed to them.

The project will include a roadshow which is to be presented to a selection of South Island high schools from February until October 2007.  Canterbury schools will pilot the roadshow in late February, before it is taken to the rest of the island in June/July. While a DVD will be part of the presentation, the general format will be flexible in order to accommodate each school’s requirements.

The final phase of the project will be an independent evaluation undertaken by Te Rau Matatini Aotearoa Māori Mental Health Workforce Development.

Canterbury District Health Board is the largest employer in the South Island, with 8235 staff in total, 3760 of which are full time employees. Of the 70% of the workforce who elected to disclose their ethnicity in a 2005 survey, just 1.5% (or 176) identified as Māori.  (About 9% of Canterbury’s total population identifies as Māori).      

“Currently Māori are under-represented in our workforce and we need to address this,” Hector Matthews, CDHB’s Executive Director Māori and Pacific Health says.

“The Te Wai Pounamu Recruitment Specialist Project is a short term initiative with long term goals. As the target audience is around the 13-15 age group, it will be a while before we see any of them embarking on careers in health, but we’re doing the groundwork now so that in the future our workforce will better reflect our cultural diversity.”

ENDS