Whānau engagement. Improving whānau engagement data collection in PRIMHD

Whānau engagement has the power to enhance recovery journeys for people accessing mental health and addiction services. However, sector reviews such as He Ara Oranga and feedback from tāngata whai ora and their whānau highlight the need for continuous improvement in the way services and whānau partner and share information to support people who are experiencing mental health and addiction problems.

As Aotearoa New Zealand takes steps towards transforming services to improve mental wellbeing holistically, person and whānau centric service provision will become increasingly critical. Research suggests that to inform and monitor progress towards whānau engagement aspirations there is a need to have access to comprehensive data collections that not only measure tāngata whai ora and whānau experiences or levels of satisfaction with care, but also provide details about what services are doing well in practice and where gaps exist for improvements.

On 1 July 2021, NCAMP made changes to the national collection of whānau engagement activity data for community settings recorded in the Programme for the Integration of Mental Health Data (PRIMHD). For services, this means the inclusion of ‘Yes/No’ tick boxes to record where whānau engagement has occurred and where it has not.

To allow services time to implement and embed the change, this data collection point has been optional. However, it is important to note that this will become mandatory for organisations reporting into PRIMHD from 1 July 2022.

Analysis of the whānau engagement data shows several services are still working to implement the NCAMP changes. This collection will be critical in the development and use of a Whānau Engagement indicator. So, to support services with the change the KPI Programme and its technical partners, Wild Bamboo have teamed up to create and share resources to address some of the known challenges.