New Wintec student-assisted service helps community
Te Kotahi Oranga | Health and Wellness Centre is a new ākonga-assisted health and well-being service with a focus on interprofessional care with all professions working together for the benefit of the client and the community.
The health and well-being service is based at the Rotokauri campus Wintec | Te Pūkenga and was founded through significant collaboration and establishment of community partnerships and underpinned by extensive research to ensure best practice in all aspects of ākonga education and service delivery.
There is always a Registered Nurse (RN) onsite, and Wintec is currently advertising for an Occupational Therapist (OT) to join the clinic.
Te Kotahi Oranga | Health and Wellness Centre project team said the establishment of the service opportunity played a vital role in developing the next generation of health professionals.
The project team said the objectives of the initiative were two-fold.
“The service was first designed to provide students with opportunities to work in a multi-disciplinary setting and learn the competencies associated with communication and collaboration with the extended health care team.
“Secondly the initiative was designed to respond to the health of community, provide a service and positively impact the health status of those in areas where there is the greatest need. Those needs were identified in a survey completed by our community partners including our onsite partner Rauawaawa Kaumatua Trust.
“The key focus of the service has been developed around the health needs identified. These are: type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), adult asthma and the risk of falls,” the project team said.
The service is currently located in one of the eco houses at Rotokauri Campus, while a new service is being built onsite as an extension to the current Student Health Services.
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First year nursing students, Fynn Robinson (left), Tylah Donovan (middle back) and Grupreet Kaur are all in their second semester and the on-campus health and well-being service is their first placement.
“We get to go out to places… it’s a good way to learn without being thrown in the deep end,” Robinson said.
“I think this placement, compared to other placements, will set us up well and help build our confidence. It’s definitely a good steppingstone,” Donovan said.
“It’s a safe place to learn alongside other students and being able to bounce ideas off each other for solutions for patients is really good,” Kaur said.
The service gets patients via referrals from community partners, through Te Kotahi Oranga | Health and Wellness Centre webpage, and a little bit of word of mouth. The service is free and available for anyone in the community who meets the criteria of needing help in one of the four areas of focus.
The project team said they are currently looking for more for patient referrals. The establishment of the health and well-being service “is an important contributor to the shaping of health professionals because they need to learn and are your future nurses, OTs, physios”.
“Our health and well-being service provides the community with accessible healthcare while giving ākonga an authentic educational experience in a real-life setting. If people are curious, you’re welcome to pop in and say hi, or check us out on our website,” the project team said.
