New Pacific housing initiative set to improve families’ wellbeing

Housing plays a key role in health outcomes. Living in cold, damp homes increases the risk of respiratory issues and other preventable health problems.

According to the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, “data shows that Pacific peoples are more likely to experience preventable housing-related hospitalisations, compared with all other groups.”

To address this issue, a new initiative has been launched in South Auckland and Porirua to improve the health and wellbeing of Pasifika families.

The Pacific Healthy Homes is a year-long initiative to provide warmer, drier, and healthier homes for Pasifika people aged 45 and older with chronic health conditions.

Evita Toala and Letele Tiseli from the Pacific Healthy Homes initiative spoke with PMN Tonga host John Pulu about the programme.

“The Pacific Healthy Homes initiative was an expansion on the already existing AWHI Healthy Homes initiative… [that] focuses on tamariki or young people aged 0 to 19,” Toala says.

“It was a rheumatic fever prevention programme when it first started and now that we got this initiative, which is funded by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, we are fortunate to focus on 45 plus Pacific people living in South Auckland.”

To qualify for the programme, Toala says individuals must be 45 years or older, have a low income, and have experienced an Ambulatory Sensitive Hospitalisation (ASH) condition.

“What that means is they may have diabetes, pneumonia, COPD. So any long-term conditions that they may have can then be referred into the programme.

Watch the full interview of Lotu Evita Toala & Letele Tiseli on PMN Tonga below.

“They can self-refer, they can refer through their GP, or they can refer through a community service provider,” Toala says.

She adds that once a referral is made, their partner, Pasifika Family Health Group, will contact the family, assess the home, and identify needs like heating, ventilation, and insulation to meet healthy home standards.

“We then work alongside a supplier, Habitat for Humanity, where we’re able to access minor repairs in the home such as broken latches on the windows or extra ceiling to stop the drafts from coming through.”

The programme is available to families in various housing types, including private rentals, owner-occupied homes, and Kāinga Ora (state housing).

“Whether you’re living in a private rental, whether you own your own home, Kāinga Ora, we will come through, and we will assist your home,” Toala says.

For more information about the Pacific Healthy Homes initiative, visit https://www.mpp.govt.nz/programmes/pacific-healthy-homes/