Key role in new health support programme
Wed Oct 26 2016 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Key role in new health support programme
26 October 2016
Professor Matthew Parsons
The University of Auckland has a key role in the development of a new Government programme to support beneficiaries with health conditions and disabilities into employment.
“As part of the programme, the University of Auckland will also analyse anonymous data from a range of government agencies to help identify groups of people who would benefit from this type of support,”says Professor Matthew Parsons, who is an expert in developing community rehabilitation services through a combination of translational research and education. “Ongoing research for the new programme includes input on classification and evaluation.”
The University research activities involve researchers across the faculties of Medicine, Engineering and Business.
The new Oranga Mahi programme involves health and social agencies working closely together – putting the person at the centre and co-ordinating services to improve their employment opportunities.
The programme is a collaboration between the University of Auckland, the Ministry of Social Development and four District Health Boards that will trial different ways to support people with health conditions and disabilities into work. The four District Health Boards involved in the Oranga Mahi trial are Canterbury, Northland, Waikato and Waitemata.
The Government’s Budget 2016 committed $9 million over three years to the Oranga Mahi programme, under which a range of trials will work to break the pattern of welfare dependency by improving service delivery and investment decisions.
The programme feeds into the Better Public Services target of reducing the number of people receiving benefit by 25 per cent by June 2018.
The first trial under the programme got underway at Waikato DHB this week. REACH involves living well coaches working closely with people with health conditions and disabilities who have been receiving a benefit for between six and 36 months.
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