September 20, 2020
Research shows navigators effective for Maori health
A Māori GP and medical researcher says healthcare navigators have proven to be an effective way to improve Māori and Pacific health outcomes.
The National Party is promising to spend almost $200 million to put a primary care navigator in every general practice to support GPs by providing the additional time to talk to patients who need help accessing the right services.
Dr Matire Harwood says when DHBs refused to fund navigators, she got research funding for a three year trial of the Mana Tu concept.
Practices recruited and trained navigators from their communities, including social workers, nurses, and receptionists, and got them to work with patients with long term conditions like diabetes.
"What we have seen is better diabetes control, and that is based on blood tests. People say they are more likely to want to quit smoking because they can get adequate support to do that. But the most interesting thing we have found is people feel empowered, they feel they are more engaged with the health system. They feel the navigators have reduced the level of racism they experienced when they are engaging with the health system," she says.
Dr Harwood says because Mana Tu has been pushed by Māori and Pacific services there seems to be resistance to getting ongoing funding.
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