Results for 2016

For Le Va 2016 was a year where change was the only constant. To end the year, and reflect the change, we’ve made a video explaining Le Va’s purpose and what we do.

Despite the landscape constantly moving and changing, we’ve focussed on being nimble, flexible and most of all, ignite communities and create change so that our families are reaching their full potential.

This focus has brought significant results for the communities we’ve served throughout 2016.

We’ve had some major highlights that we couldn’t have achieved without the support of our partners, stakeholders, families and communities. These include:

• Equipping the mental health and addiction workforce by growing and upskilling the Pacific workers and enhancing cultural responsiveness of the general mental health workforce has been effective. The Pasifika adult mental health and addiction workforce report, shows we’ve made some great inroads growing workforce numbers and skills. We’ve awarded 340 Pasifika mental health and addiction scholarships since 2009 and are currently supporting a cohort of 49 as part of the Futures that work programme with 100% pass rate from 2015. This year also saw 17 of our Le Tautua Pasifika emerging leaders programme alumni come back for further leadership upskilling. Check out this infographic for more detail.
• Connecting culture and care for more than 600 health and disability workers through the interactive Engaging Pasifika Cultural Competency programme.  It includes the Ministry of Health’s Let’s get real core competencies framework. Participants also gain 15 accredited training points with the Drug and Alcohol Practitioners Association of Aotearoa New Zealand. Our e-learning results, including our ethnic specific modules have proven to be an effective tool for supporting live workshops, with more than 93 per cent of all participants rating the overall programme as excellent. Check out our infographic outlining the 2015-2016 results.
• Mental health literacy is an enabler for better quality services and outcomes for Pasifika people and our workforce. Thanks to the Ministry of Health, we’ve been able to continue to provide resources and tools for the mental health and addiction workforce to better engage and effectively support our Pasifika people and their families – like Inu Ora (reducing alcohol related harm in Pacific languages), Depression factsheets in Pacific languages, Pasifika Youth Participation Guidelines, and a infographic video outlining a snapshot of cultural, mental health and addiction issues for our Pasifika young people.
• Co-designing the first evidence-informed structured problem solving app – Aunty Dee. Aunty Dee featured in Superu’s What Works: Going digital delivering well being services to young people publication and was presented at Superu’s prestigious Going Digital Seminar. Aunty Dee has also been invited to be presented at many conferences and gatherings, such as AUT’s e-mental health conference this year. We knew we had the evidence for Aunty Dee, clinically and culturally, but we were really chuffed when the World Health Organisation released a recommendation that a structured problem solving approach be used for people that self-harm. More evidence for the effectiveness of Aunty Dee!
• Facilitating GPS 2016, our national Growing Pasifika Solutions for our Young People conference.  It is not an easy job capturing the breadth and depth of results achieved at #GPS2016, when there was more than 540 registrants engaged with 75 speakers focussed on solutions for our Pasifika young people! View a music video that TJ Tautua put together on the spot as a presentation at the conference! For a fantastic overview of some of the issues raised at GPS, watch our interview with Tagata Pasifika.
• Trailblazing suicide prevention for Pasifika communities through our FLO: Pasifika for Life national programme has been our honour and privilege. Funding 17 community initiatives nation-wide, training over 100 Pacific people to facilitate suicide prevention education and action in their own communities and providing relevant resources and tools – like our BRAVE video which reached over 100,000 people – has been an amazing experience. We were also honoured to have the opportunity to share the Pasifika Media Guidelines for Reporting Suicide in New Zealand that we co-designed with 23 Pasifika media organisations in New Zealand. Check out our annual results for FLO: Pasifika for Life.
• This year our Positive Messages from the Pulpit programme for supporting Pacific people with disabilities was embraced by 10 churches, supporting more than 1,300 parishioners to reduce negative stigma, enhance access to services and promote inclusiveness for Pasifika people with disabilities. See more infographic results on our disability Faiva Ora work here.
• Advocacy and primary prevention for Pasifika well being has been a theme this year. Our digital footprint has been phenomenal for a small NGO, reaching 3.6 million people around the world through social media or TV. Our communications infographic explains how we did it. Its been an honour for us to become the ‘go to’ for Pasifika well being – reflected in radio NZ current affairs interviews for suicide prevention, Pacific mental health, cultural approaches to well being. Working across borders with partners like the NRL has also helped spread the right messages. Spasifik Magazine featured the ‘Resilience through Rugby League’ article, and TV story by Tagata Pasifika.

These positive outcomes reflect the leadership from the Ministry of Health and our collaborACTIONS with other organisations, workforce centres, churches, sports clubs and community groups. And, of course, the leadership from those that guide our work, such as our Matua Council, Faiva Ora Leadership Group, Drua Pasifika Addiction Network, FLO Ambassadors and the Pasifika young people we work alongside.

Thank you all so much for your ongoing support and service.  We are looking forward to serving more and equipping our communities and workforce to support our Pasifika families and communities to unleash their full potential in 2017 and beyond.

Ia manuia
The Le Va family