Recently, Healthy Families Ōtautahi facilitated a Talanoa (sharing of ideas) with local Pasifika community leaders. The purpose of the Talanoa was to identify gaps and opportunities in local systems when it comes to Pasifika health and wellbeing, and to understand where Healthy Families Ōtautahi can contribute to flourishing Pasifika communities.

For Healthy Families Ōtautahi Pasifika Innovator, Chris John, the Talanoa was crucial as it “created a safe space with my peers to get their perspective and understand how to better serve their needs to support the prevention of chronic disease.”

The main question in the Talanoa was ‘what does a healthy, happy, thriving whānau (community) look like and what systems support, or hinder, this from happening?’

To help answer this question, a ‘rich picture storytelling’ approach was introduced to the group. “Rich picture mapping is like creating a colourful, hand-drawn roadmap to help you make sense of complex ideas and situations and is a great way to bring a range of people together to gain a shared understanding”, says Lead Systems Innovator, Maria Smolar.

Utilising this tool enabled the group to see relationships, and connections, between different elements, the current status of the system and the potential systems change that can be contributed to through Healthy Families Ōtautahi’s mahi.

Furthermore, the Talanoa exposed that “one person can’t do it alone, and having the community’s perspective and input is vital to effective systems change”.

A key takeaway for Chris was “action needs to follow the words”, so she is now working to identify 2-3 key areas of focus and will soon return to the community to ensure these meet the aspirations of Pasifika.

Article added: Friday 10 November 2023