Health Navigator Charitable Trust this week launched Te Kete Haerenga, an online self-management “toolkit” designed to empower all people living with one or more long-term health conditions.

The resource is intended to be used as part of a person’s journey to self-determination.

“People can make Te Kete Haerenga their plan, where they are in charge, and share it with their wider healthcare team to ensure everyone is on the same page and focused on supporting them to reach their goals,” Health Navigator NZ partnerships and community development lead Karōria Johns says.

The beautifully designed Te Kete Haerenga replaces the trust’s self-management resource, Take Charge, and is the result of extensive consultation and co-design with key stakeholders, including Māori, Pasifika and tangata whaiora.

“We hope to capture the hearts and minds of whānau, kaimanaaki, Māori and Pacific providers alike with this toolkit so they will all be eager to use it,” Ms Johns says.

Self-management approach works
Engaging people in their own decision-making is a core component of the people-powered component of the 2016 NZ Health Strategy. That’s because it has been shown people are able to manage their conditions better with a self-management support (SMS) approach: they are more motivated to take advice and follow treatment plans when treated as active partners in their own health.

Te Kete Haerenga enables people to become active partners in decision-making and better able to work towards achieving the goals they have chosen for themselves. This is meaningful and worthwhile for them and their whanau and, as a result, they are more likely to be successful and improve their quality of life.

Practical support for whole team 
The toolkit provides easy to understand care-planning information that both patients and clinicians can use. It’s a practical resource for nurses, health coaches, dietitians, and other health providers to support long-term condition management within a patient/practitioner partnership. Those who feel confident to work through the toolkit on their own can, while others may need some additional guidance and support from their healthcare team.

Part of the beauty of this toolkit is that it can be used for all sorts of on-going health conditions, Ms Johns says. “For example, with the long-term effects of COVID-19 still largely unknown, the toolkit offers a practical care-planning tool to support the management of Long COVID.”

Part of a suite of self-management support resources
Additional resources on the Health Navigator NZ website support the toolkit and offer information on a range of topics, including sleep, chronic pain, medicines, stress and fatigue. These are designed to empower individuals to make behaviour changes and improve their quality of life, so they are more in control, know when to seek help, if needed, and are more confident to manage safely at home.

These free resources are available for download on the Health Navigator NZ website, visit hn.org.nz/kete.

The Te Kete Haerenga project is part of Health Navigator Charitable Trust’s ongoing commitment to helping improve the wellbeing of people living with long-term conditions.

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