Many whānau face a whole variety of barriers when it comes to getting their tamariki those all important, and potentially life-saving immunisations – but Tui Ora is on hand to help them find a way.
The Taranaki hauora provider has registered nurses who visit whānau at home, or wherever suits best, to kōrero about and administer any or all childhood immunisations.
Maria has been part of the Tui Ora Outreach Programme for two years now, administered countless immunisations and, most importantly, protected an immeasurable number of whānau from serious and contagious diseases like meningitis, whooping cough, and measles.
This service is available to anyone in Taranaki who needs it, and there can be many different reasons why having tamariki immunised at home is an ideal solution.
Maria explains, “Some whānau aren’t enrolled at a General Practice (GP) because they can’t get into one and it’s not often that GPs are able to open their books. This means they can’t make an appointment to have their babies and children immunised.”
“Transport can be another issue maybe their partner has the car for work and public transport is lacking, so they’re not able to get to appointments. Or some whānau may be living in New Plymouth but are registered with GPs in Ōpunake or Whaitara, and they’re hard to get to.”
“Sometimes it can be that they have a number of small children which makes it really difficult to get everyone coordinated into a single visit at a clinic when there are different ages and requirements to manage, so they really appreciate it that we can come to their homes to do the vaccinations instead.”
For Ayla Broughton-Reweti, māmā to six tamariki aged 17, 12, 11, five, four and almost three, the reason for using the Outreach Programme was because “I would prefer in home as it means it’s easier to keep an eye on all the kids, also being in the comfort of our own home makes it easier for pēpi to come right again.”
She was referred to the programme 17 years ago through her midwife and has been with Tui Ora ever since. “The Outreach Programme helps by making it easy for me as a busy māmā. Often I’ve had multiple tamariki needing their vaccinations, and they’ve helped keep me on top of the schedule so no one gets behind. They’re always very clear about what the vaccination is, who it is for, and answer any questions I have.”
“I love that even when I was working at kōhanga, they made the effort to make it work for me to get their immunisations done by coming to my mahi and doing the immunisations there. I couldn’t really ask for better support than people who go above and beyond to make it happen for our tamariki and keep them safe.”
An Outreach visit to vaccinate tamariki takes around half an hour and everything is done to make sure everyone feels at ease.
Maria explains “We try to make it a really good experience for people. Sometimes we get people who are highly anxious, and that’s why they don’t get their whānau vaccinated at their GP practice because it makes their anxiety worse. So to have someone come into their home to vaccinate their tamariki, the anxiety is still there, but less, and we acknowledge how they’re feeling, and work through it.”
When talking about her role and how she works with whānau Maria says, “My role isn’t just about popping in, giving a vaccination and then leaving again, you’re building relationships with the mother, child and whole whānau, and that’s such a pivotal part of it all.”
“One whānau I went to, the first visit was uncomfortable. Although the māmā said she wanted her tamariki to have their vaccinations, her body language said otherwise. By now, I think we’ve visited that whānau about six times, and every time we go, we have lovely conversations, the kids know us, and it’s just so relaxed.”
If you’re interested in having a kōrero with Maria or one of our nurses about getting your tamariki immunised, she can be contacted via 0800 TUI ORA. Whānau do not have to be registered with Tui Ora for this service, it’s open to anyone in Taranaki who finds it difficult to get tamariki aged under seven vaccinated.