14 December 2021

The new Ministry will be responsible for the national implementation of an EGL approach, subject to Budget 2022 decisions, based on what has been learned from the successful pilots and prototype (Waikato, Christchurch and MidCentral). The EGL vision is that all disabled people and their whānau have greater choice and control over their supports and lives. You can read below in an article from A Supported Life what choice means to people they support.

Since the announcement, the Ministry of Social Development has set up an Establishment Unit for the new Ministry. Recruitment for Director of the Establishment Unit is completed, and you can expect an announcement to be made very soon. The Establishment Unit has also been recruiting for approximately 30 roles. Work on the Establishment Unit Governance arrangements is nearing completion, and this work will continue in the New Year.

A critical success factor for the new Ministry is continuity of disability support services and that no disabled people are worse off during the transition. That means we are committed to ensuring there is no service disruption during the transition to the new Ministry.

After the Minister’s announcement, we received many questions from providers. In response, we published a Fact Sheet for Ministry of Health contracted providers. This document answers questions you have asked about transition to the new Ministry, but please contact your portfolio manager, or email disability@health.govt.nz if you have further questions.

Thank you for all the work you have done in supporting disabled people throughout the year. Do take the time to relax and unwind over the holidays, and I’m looking forward to working with you in 2022 as we support a transition to the new Ministry.

I wish you and your family/whānau and loved ones a safe, happy and restful holiday season.

Amanda Bleckmann

Acting Deputy Director-General Disability

This month

• Updated advice for providers on Covid Protection Framework
• Latest COVID-19 vaccination rates for people receiving disability supports
• Vaccine passes for groups of people living in care
• Office of Disability Issues COVID-19 Zoom event: Your questions answered
• COVID-19 Vaccination and Immunisation Programme update
• Cochlear implants improving peoples’ quality of life
• Waikato Child Development Service develops Family Peer Connectors mode
• Management changes at A Supported Life
• A Supported Life – Supporting Choice, Creating Opportunity
• Targeted consultation for the disability community - repealing and replacing the Mental Health Act

Updated advice for providers on Covid Protection Framework

With the Alert Level system being replaced by the Covid Protection Framework (traffic light system), we have updated our guidance for disability-funded providers.  You can find our advice on the Ministry of Health website here COVID-19: Aged care and disability providers | Ministry of Health NZ

This is the primary source of guidance for disability providers and will be updated as needed.  If you have any queries about this information, please email disability@health.govt.nz

COVID-19 vaccination rates for people receiving funded disability supports

Latest data on vaccination rates for people receiving disability supports, compared to the general population on the same day.

Vaccine passes for groups of people in care

Vaccine passes are an essential part of the traffic light system, and you can apply for a My Vaccine Pass on behalf of a group of people who are in your care (for example, assisted-living residents at a rest home or disabled people who require care and support).

Make sure you have the person’s permission before you request this information on their behalf.

Please email your enquiry along with your name, position and organisation to vaccinestatus@health.govt.nz and they will respond with step-by-step instructions.

Office of Disability Issues COVID-19 Zoom event: Your questions answered

The Office of Disability Issues is hosting a Zoom event at 6.30pm this Wednesday (15 December), to answer questions from the disability community around COVID-19.

Join the Minister for Disability Issues, the Office for Disability Issues, Tōfa Mamao Collective, Doctor Huhana Hickey and the Ministry of Health for an information session via Zoom.

Hear from speakers on these topics and then have a chance to ask your own questions on:

• Vaccination data on disabled people
• Community self-isolation/quarantine when tested as Covid positive
• The new traffic light systems – what are the implications for disabled people? 

Join the Zoom meeting on the link below. 

https://zoom.us/j/97928533929?pwd=cXFUeXBpRmhMMGg1T3pLWVRsQmE4Zz09    

Meeting ID: 979 2853 3929
Passcode: FRsj6Vg9Sr

There will be NZSL interpreters on the call. 

This kōrero is open to all members of the disability community, so please do share it with your networks.

 COVID-19 Vaccination and Immunisation Programme update

It’s been a busy couple of months as we aim to vaccinate everyone over the age of 12 before the end of the year. As a result, Chief Advisor disability Rāwā Karetai Wood-Bodley was seconded across as GM Disability to the COVID-19 Vaccination and Immunisation Programme, to ensure uptake and accessibility of the vaccine for disabled people.

A recent Facebook Live chat hosted by the Ministry of Health focussed on answering questions specific to disabled people or people with long-term health conditions. Paula Tesoriero, as moderator, was joined by Dr Anthony Jordan (Allergist and Immunologist), Dr Hina Lutui (Clinical director of Alliance Health Plus), Jackey Marriott (Director of vaccination at Whakarongorau telehealth) and Dr Huhana Hickey (lawyer and disability advocate). The event was the first live of its kind – focussed explicitly on concerns of the disability community. Topics of interest included allergies and autoimmune conditions, vaccines and medications, and concerns about how vaccines affected people’s underlying conditions or disabilities. The recording has now been viewed by over 8,000 people, and you can view it here .

Higher rates

We were excited to learn from recent data that, overall, disabled people have higher rates of vaccination than the general population. The Social Wellbeing Agency recently completed an analysis of data   related to vaccination.

Using the Washington Short Set of questions on disability, the analysis identifies 1.2 million people as disabled. While the overall news is good, the research also highlights where we still have work to do. Tāngata Whaikaha (Māori and Pacific disabled people) and young people with severe communication, hearing and memory difficulties still have lower vaccination rates than the population average. Our team is targeting our focus to support these groups in the final stretch of the vaccine rollout.

Transport to vaccination

Free transport to vaccination is available by contacting the disability team at Whakarongorau via the disability line (0800 28 29 26 push ‘2’). The team members on the “push 2” line fully understand different people’s transport needs and can discuss and organise with individuals to have the most appropriate service for them. The Whakarongorau text service was also launched for people who need or prefer this option to make contact; this is a welcome addition to the services, especially for the Deaf community and autistic people – two groups who find the most use from text-based services. The service directs people to trained advisors to ensure that individual needs are considered.

Third primary doses have been made available to people who are immunocompromised. Questions and concerns from immunocompromised people have been a large part of our team’s feedback from the disability community. The availability of these third primary doses, alongside the publication of vaccination information for people with underlying health conditions on the Unite Against COVID website, is a small representation of gains made through community engagement.

A third primary dose is different to a booster dose, and this month also saw the start of booster doses for those who had their vaccine six months ago. In some ways, it’s hard to believe it’s been that long; this marks a significant transition for the programme from roll out towards becoming part of business as usual.

Our stories

We have begun a campaign to capture the stories of Tangata whaikaha Māori and disabled people, whānau whaikaha, carers, aiga and families to support the COVID-19 immunisation programme. The Accessible Regional Communications Collective (ARCC) Facebook group will be an online space to share any information and resources created. We encourage all communicators to share and download content and develop a supportive community. We will also be holding online catchups to share information and answer questions as this campaign work progresses.

Cassia Walton, the videographer of Aroā Whakarongo, has been filming for this campaign over the last few weeks and has interviewed several people. The videos will be released on the ARCC group Facebook for everyone to share.

For further information, contact RaNae Niven, Aroā Whakarongo Communications.

Get your booster dose

You can get a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine if it has been six months since your second dose.

About booster doses

You can get a booster dose if:

• you are aged 18 or over
• you have had both primary doses of the vaccine
• it has been at least six months since your second dose.

How to get a booster dose:

• going online to Book My Vaccine or calling 0800 28 29 26
• going to a walk-in or drive-through vaccination clinic 
• Make an appointment with your doctor if they are doing COVID-19 vaccines.

Three ways to get your Vaccine Pass

• If you have one of these forms of valid ID, you can order online 
• calling 0800 222 478 — 8 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday.
• In-person at participating vaccination sites like a pharmacy or a GP.

Booking appointments; getting support and seeking advice from Whakarongoau/Healthline for vaccine related queries

• Phone 0800 28 29 26 and’ push 2.’
• Text 8988
• email accessiblecovidvaccinations@whakarongorau.nz  

The Disability COVID Vaccination Healthline team is available between 8 am and 8 pm Monday to Friday.

Alternatively, there is also NZ Relay Service to contact Healthline, which offers services for deaf, hard of hearing, speech impaired and deafblind people via:

http://www.nzrelay.co.nz

The help desk is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can be reached on 0800 4715715.

Cochlear implants - improving peoples’ quality of life

Cochlear implants are surgically implanted electronic devices that enable a person who is severely hard of hearing or profoundly deaf to hear better. This has a significant impact on peoples’ quality of life.

The Ministry of Health funds two Trusts, the Northern Cochlear Implant Trust and the Southern Hearing Charitable Trust, to provide cochlear implant services, and Government funding for these services has been increasing.

Cochlear implants can make an enormous difference in peoples’ lives.

People like Tauranga woman Josie Calcott.

Josie used to lack confidence so much, she had her colleagues make phone calls for her.

Now she has the confidence to make her own phone calls – in fact she loves talking on the phone.

The difference is a cochlear implant, which has made an immense impact on her life.

‘When I worked as a nurse, I used to bargain with my colleagues to make phone calls for me, calls to doctors, that sort of thing. Talking with patients and colleagues was quite difficult, because I needed them to be facing me,’ says Josie.

‘There was a lot of frustration over the years, and I developed a lot of coping strategies. I was very good at lip-reading.’

‘I work as a care services manager at a retirement village now, and I’m on the phone all the time. There’s no way I could have done that without a cochlear implant.’

Tauranga-based Josie wasn’t born deaf, she lost her hearing because of chickenpox when she was two. She says she struggled through school, and developed strategies for covering up her lack of hearing.

She relied on hearing aids, and knew about cochlear implants, but she didn’t believe how much further benefit she would get from them. Until it happened.

‘I didn’t recognise the sounds at first – because I had never heard them, but with rehabilitation and time it become clearer and clearer,’ says Josie.

‘It’s amazing the difference it has made – it’s really changed me.’

 ‘I’m still blown away today at how much it has changed my life. I pinch myself, really.’

Waikato Child Development Service develops Family Peer Connectors model

As part of the Child Development Service Improvement Programme, the McKenzie Centre has developed and delivered a Family Peer Connector model.

The McKenzie Centre delivers Child Development Services in the Waikato region. 

The model brings together a group of Family Peer Connectors to build family capacity and contribute to better futures. This approach reflects their overarching family-centred practice.

McKenzie Centre have worked collaboratively to see Family Peer Connectors recognised equitably in their role, and remunerated for their services and expertise, alongside others who form a team around the children and families of the Centre.

At this early stage, McKenzie Centre have affirmed:

• a family-centred, capacity building approach to early intervention must include Family Peer Connectors
• this strengths-based approach acknowledges the potential already within children, families, and communities seeking to start where they are at, to amplify and enhance existing skills and expertise through relational engagement and coaching
• a cohort of Family Peer Connectors has begun to mobilise to provide peer-led engagement and facilitation with families
• intentional connection, capability building, and advocacy are the critical elements of the Family Peer Connector approach
• the Families Empowering Families peer network is also an important network for the Family Peer Connectors to be part of, as well as providing additional connections with other families.

For more information contact:

Trisha Benge  - McKenzie Centre Director

Marcia Ranginui Charlton  - Peer Project Leader                

Management changes at A Supported Life

Disability support provider A Supported Life has appointed Carissa Pereira as its new Chief Executive. Carissa has led A Supported Life as General Manager-Operations, alongside its founder Stuart Spackman, for many years.

The appointment comes as part of succession planning, because Stuart Spackman is retiring from his role as General Manager on 7 January 2022.

Supporting Choice, Creating Opportunity   

How can we bring these words to life in a way that aligns with international human rights principles?

To explore these weighty questions, I turned to Rose and Jonathan Green to learn more about what “choice” means to them; how staff can fulfill our commitment to supporting their choices; and what we can learn from the international human rights framework about respecting choice.

A small caveat before we dig deeper: this article doesn’t pretend to have the answers. Perhaps like many of you, I have seen first-hand how challenging it can be to support choice in practice. It certainly isn’t always as obvious, simple, or straightforward as one may imagine, and I know I have stumbled at times. But this is an area where I want to learn more, and improve…and I’m hoping to use this piece as a jumping-off point to join the conversation about how I can take a rights-based approach for delivering support, and, in doing so, elevate the insights and experiences of Rose and Jonathan. 

Choice: A Gateway Right

When we stop to think about it, life really boils down to a succession of choices: who we spend our time with, the food we eat, the work and activities we take on, the money we spend, the places we go...the decision I made last Sunday to eat those 2-day leftover tacos in the fridge (Not my best decision!). Choice is something so routinely exercised that, for many of us, it can be taken for granted. For Rose and Jonathan, however, this is not the case. To them, choice is paramount and an expression of one of their most important life goals: increased independence. Sitting on their couch with them, I sought to unpack this.

Sharing a wealth of insights, they offered their thoughts to explain why choice is so important to them. Here are just a handful of words they used to express their feelings on the subject: 

“Respect,” “Freedom” “Voice,” “Learning,” “Discovery,” “Growth,” “Confidence,” “Control,” “Privacy,” “Fairness,” “Opportunity,” “Having a go” and “Teamwork.”

Rose linked choice to how one feels about themself and their ability to develop, “Having choice builds confidence, and confidence is what we need to believe in ourselves and try; what we need to grow.” Jonathan added that “choice is about respecting privacy...and freedom,” and connected it to the learning process that all humans need to go through; through choice, one is able to “challenge themself, and move forward in life.” 

Interestingly, Rose and Jonathan’s intuition and natural understanding of choice aligns closely with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and surrounding human rights principles. The Convention, which was signed by New Zealand in 2007 (ratified in 2008) is a legal instrument that recognizes that certain rights are so fundamental -- so central to the human experience and notions of dignity and self-worth -- that they must be guaranteed. Not only is choice one of those guarantees, but the Convention singles out autonomy and the freedom to make one’s own choices as the first principle of the Convention (Article 3(a)), acknowledging that choice, in many ways, is the gateway right to a slew of other rights for people with disabilities, including participation, inclusion, equality, and privacy. Or as captured nicely by the advocacy group Inclusion International:

“Making choices and decisions for ourselves is an important part of who we are. It is fundamental to having control over our own lives and important for securing all other rights: If we are not allowed to make our own decisions, how can we have a voice in anything else that is important to us?” (Global Report on the Right to Decide)

A Supported Choice vs. A Substituted Choice

While a key goal of the Convention is to provide everyone the freedom to make their own independent decisions, sometimes the people we support may not be able to make fully independent decisions and, in these limited circumstances, the Convention encourages a supported decision-making process. Supported decision-making emphasises each person's ability to choose, once they have been given the support necessary to understand and communicate those decisions (and contrasts with substituted decision-making, where decisions are made by others and the people we support are given no real choice). The support worker gives advice and guidance, and the person being supported makes the final decision.

The New Zealand Disability Strategy and the ongoing Disability System Transformation build on these principles, reminding us that, “Needing support does not diminish [people with disabilities] independence or our ability to have choice and control over our lives.” (Outcome 7 - Choice and Control). 

Summary of thoughts from Rose and Jonathan on choices can be supported:

• Please listen. Take the time to learn our story. If you understand our history, experiences, goals, and dreams, you are more likely to understand our thinking and support us to make choices that make sense for us.
• Ask us how we’re feeling. Our choices may be connected to how we’re feeling that day, and we may want to talk through this before anything else.
• Present the possibilities, information, and options, and help us weigh the pros and cons of decisions. In doing this, “you can guide us to the path, and we can decide which direction to go.”
• Help build us up and provide positive feedback and encouragement when we do make good choices.
• Give us space, and let us make our choices in our own time. 
• Please respect that we know ourselves better than anyone else. 
• Treat us as equals. We want to have the ability to make our own decisions, just like you.
• Be flexible. Some days we may want or need more guidance/advice, and other days, we may not. The level of support we need may change. “This is because everyone is different, every single day.”
• Keep a sense of humour. We’ll need to work as a team on some decisions, and that teamwork is much easier if we can find fun in the process.
• Understand that we may make mistakes. We want the chance to try and have a go. “No one is perfect. Mistakes are learning. And we need to be able to make mistakes, just like everyone else.”

And the final words to Jonathan: “Never give up. We’re all learning together.”

Targeted consultation for the disability community - repealing and replacing the Mental Health Act

The Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 is legislation that sets out when, why and how the Government can intervene in a person’s life to give them mental health treatment against their will.

The Act has not kept pace with new approaches to care and we want to find out what mental health legislation in New Zealand should look like. 

Public consultation is open until 28 January - you can read more about this consultation on the Ministry of Health website. Philip Grady, the Acting Deputy-Director General for Mental Health and Addictions, talks about the importance of this consultation in this video. You can also watch this video about the consultation.

Targeted consultation sessions for disabled people

In general, disabled people have poorer health outcomes than non-disabled people and in this session participants will discuss whether specific requirements and/or protections should be included in the legislation to make sure the particular needs of disabled people are met. These Zoom workshops are on:

Thursday 16 December at 1:00 PM

• Register by clicking here (spaces are limited)

Friday 14 January at 10:00 AM

• Register by clicking here (spaces are limited)

Other consultation sessions

Sessions are also planned for people working in the mental health and addictions sector, Māori, Pacific people, and people with lived experience of mental health and addictions. A list of all our engagement workshops is available here.

People can register to attend one of the consultation workshops, or the team is happy to come to any existing forums and share information, run a mini consultation, or arrange an out-of-hours or weekend session. Simply email mhactreview@health.govt.nz to arrange this.

Making a submission

You are welcome to give feedback on the whole discussion document or just the parts you are most interested in or affected by. 

You can provide feedback by:

• making an online submission at New Zealand Ministry of Health - Citizen Space
• answering the questions in the consultation document and emailing your responses to mhactreview@health.govt.nz
• answering the questions in the consultation document and sending a hard copy to:
  • Consultation: Transforming mental health law in Aotearoa New Zealand
    Ministry of Health
    PO Box 5013
    Wellington 6140
• sending us your views on a particular topic relating to the consultation by emailing mhactreview@health.govt.nz

Submissions can be in any format, including video submissions. Please send these through as an attachment or link to mhactreview@health.govt.nz. You might have other views and concerns that we have not captured, and we encourage you to tell us about these.