“E lutia i Pu’ava, ae mapu i Fagalele” (Translated: “distress at Pu’ava but we will rest in Fagalele”) meaning the present may be bad with the measles in Samoa, but better times are ahead.

AH+ Nurse Advisor, Joe Glassie-Rasmussen was in the first cohort of eight nurses who were sent to Samoa from New Zealand as part of the medical emergency response to the measles outbreak.

Counties Manukau Health are taking the lead on the response and nurses are being deployed to Samoa on a weekly rotation for an initial period of four weeks.

Stationed in Lepea on the island of Upolu, Joe was part of ‘Team 13’ – a combined team of nurses from both Samoa and New Zealand. The days were long and Joe’s team worked from 8am through to 7pm daily in order to help as many people as they could, resulting in the highest number of registered measles immunisations in the surrounding area, during that time period. Team 13 triaged and assessed patients as they presented and collectively administered over 1,000 measles vaccines throughout the week.

Given Joe’s experience as a nurse in the primary care and community setting in NZ, he was able to support the team by providing guidance on Cold Chain procedures and delivering vaccination education including potential reactions including anaphylaxis, and the appropriate response.

With his depth of knowledge on Cold Chain procedures, Joe was asked to spend a day on the island of Savai’i to provide education and refresher training to the local nurses. This was to ensure the storage and transportation requirements aligned with best practice protocols which is critical in preserving the efficacy of the MMR vaccines.

Joe acknowledged the skills, co-ordination, dedication and hard work of the nursing and medical teams in Samoa, as well as the team-work that is evident both at the front-line and behind the scenes.

The situation in Samoa is heart-breaking and we send our love and prayers to everyone living in Samoa as well as those who are working hard to help protect the people of our dear Pacific neighbour.

The death toll currently stands at 70 with over 4,500 cases reported since the outbreak began.

In 2018 Counties Manukau Health introduced the Wellness Support programme; a new approach to providing primary mental health care in general practices which is based on the principles of kind, clear, continuous and effective care for patients.

We are pleased to announce that 100% of our Alliance Health+ CMDHB practices are now up and running with the Wellness Support programme! A huge THANK YOU to everyone involved with the transition.

The programme offers improved access for patients with mild to moderate presentations and those under the age of 18 years, with free mental health support including extended 30 minute GP or Nurse consults. Prior to the introduction of Wellness Support, patients only had access to funded mental health care in general practices if they were diagnosed with depression and were over 18 years of age.

In its first year, Wellness Support has reached in excess of 4,300 enrolled people and provided more than 10,000 consultations. The programme supports a team approach, and nurse consults have more than tripled from the previous CCM Depression programme. Our AH+ nurses are providing 17% of interventions/sessions, well above the DHB average of 9%.

“Across all ethnicities more behavioural activation (e.g. sleep hygiene and activity scheduling) is being provided than medication; the model is supporting a high number of Maaori and Asian people and Alliance Health + has the highest proportion of nurse consults and phone reviews across the district” – Pam Hewlett, Portfolio Manager Mental Health and Addictions, CMDHB

The PPAL Programme is a FREE parenting programme funded by the Auckland District Health Board. It is for families or caregivers with children aged 2 - 4 years old, with a BMI in the 91st centile or above, providing support and tools to help families raise happy and healthy kids by strengthening family relationships and making positive choices easy.

The programme which is delivered by Samoan, Tongan and English speaking facilitators, consists of 9 sessions and is currently delivered in groups and one-on-one, in-home sessions.

Group sessions are underway with the Tongan Methodist Church in Ellerslie and Panmure and we look forward to working with more church and community groups, reaching more families. Participants from our two church groups are highly engaged and eager to learn. It is heartening to see our parents and extended family members take positive steps to improve the health and wellbeing of their children. We have also successfully completed the delivery of our first 1:1 session for the 2019/2020 financial year.

We look forward to updating you on the programme as it continues in 2020.

If you know of a church and/or community group that could be interested in the PPAL Programme please get in touch with Karyn Ne'emia (karynn@alliancehealth.org.nz) or Michaela Roberts (MichaelaR@alliancehealth.org.nz).

Below: PPAL participants from the Tongan Methodist Church Ellerslie:

Below: PPAL participants from the Tongan Methodist Church Panmure:

On Thursday 28th November approximately 200 guests attended the AH+ HVAZ Aiga Challenge Prizegiving held at Congregational Christian Church Samoa in Sandringham.

All year, the 495 participants from 14 Samoan churches around Auckland, have worked hard exercising and improving their nutrition with the ultimate aim of losing weight and reducing their Body Mass Index (BMI), resulting in overall improved health and wellbeing.

The desire for improved health, coupled with a dose of healthy (!) competition drives hard work and commitment from participants who compete on both an individual level and also as a church group, against the other competing churches.

Key Guest Speaker was Dave Letele founder of BBM Motivation who years ago, found himself weighing in at 210kg. His inspirational story includes losing over 100kgs and setting up a successful, health and wellbeing programme that is free and is now helping hundreds of Pacific people to lose weight and get healthy.

Dave had three quick tips:

1) Stop drinking fizzy drinks

2) Stop eating junk food

3) Get walking

...and four key messages:

1) Just START

2) Be consistent - no one is perfect if you fall off the wagon, get up and get back on

3) Surround yourself with supportive people

4) No excuses!

Two other Guest Speakers, Rev Paulo Ieli from The Methodist Church of NZ Ponsonby Parish and Rev Fogalele Iosia from The Samoan Methodist Church Mt Roskill told their own personal and inspiring stories of overcoming health challenges.

Fa’afetai tele lava to ALL members of our churches who participated in the 2019 Aiga Challenge and to those who attended the event to join in the celebrations.

2019 HVAZ Aiga Challenge Award Winners:

1. Highest reduction of BMI (%):

Aged 5 – 16 years: Lila Faitoto’a Jr

Aged 17 – 25 years: Fila Bruland

Aged 26 – 59 years: Daisy Laulu

Aged 60+ years: Sala Laufili

2. Highest waist measurement reduction:

Aged 5 – 16 years: Lena Ioane

Aged 17 – 25 years: Knightingale Fa’alelea

Aged 26 – 59 years: Sieni Lilomaiava

Aged 60+ years: Puapuaga Paiaaua

3. Maintaining weight loss over the last three AH+ HVAZ Aiga Challenges:

Congregational Christian Church Samoa (CCCS) Sandringham Trust Board (EFKS Sandringham)

4. Overall winner in the AH+ HVAZ Aiga Challenge 2019:

Samoan Seventh Day Adventist Church Onehunga

Exciting news! We are so pleased to have partnered with Dave Letele and the BBM Program; a health, fitness and wellbeing program that sees thousands of participants across Auckland, make healthier choices and see real results.

BBM is helping to turn around the lives of many Pacific people who suffer from obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, mental health issues and more. As a Pacific-led PHO with a mission to transform the health and wellbeing of Pacific and high-needs communities, the partnership is one that makes sense. In this partnership, we have a real opportunity to help significantly reduce health inequities for our Pacific population, while supporting our Practice network and enrolled patients, with the delivery of an exclusive health and well-being service, a variation of which, we can already see working at a grass-roots community level.