New data tools to improve Māori vaccination rates

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Two new vaccination data tools aim to help organisations increase vaccination rates for Māori and vulnerable people in their communities.

The Hāpai Te Hauora Research Unit has worked with Atamai Digital to develop the PĀ ORA platform, designed to connect whānau Māori and Māori health providers to trusted information.

Hāpai Research Unit Lead, Maria Ngāwati says the platform bridges the gap between Ministry of Health information and community intel from Māori health providers on things like locations of vaccination buses and walk-in centres.

This community information changes day-to-day and might come from non-MoH sources such as health provider social media posts, she tells eHealthNews.nz.

Hāpai Te Hauora is the country’s largest Māori public health organisation and chief executive Selah Hart says PĀ ORA is complementary to other sites like Karawhiua, but is much more agile.

“This is a Māori public health and technological response that isn’t on behalf of our communities, but in service of them,” she says.

"Whānau will be able to access information about locations of the vaccination buses, pop-up vaccination and testing sites in real-time, the platform will be updated with the latest information as we receive it.”

PĀ ORA can also notify whānau about the locations of interest as they arise, straight to their emails or mobile phones.

Ngawati says that ongoing funding will be needed to roll out PĀ ORA as intended.

"We want this resource to be offered to Māori health providers for them to use on their websites, and in their planning at no cost,” she says.

A new app from Pinnacle’s Midland network draws data from Pinnacle’s member practices, enabling leaders to identify, at street level, where its unvaccinated population is.

Brandi Hudson, Pinnacle Māori health director, says it will help iwi make strategic decisions about which areas of a town or city they should be directing their efforts towards.

“This data will show iwi that instead of having a mobile vaccination centre by a supermarket, they might be better off having it at the local sports grounds,” says Hudson.

Alex Poor, Pinnacle chief data officer, says “sharing this level of data is quite unique, but we see it as our duty to share it safely for the benefit of our Māori people and most vulnerable communities.

“We’ve undertaken significant due diligence to ensure details about individuals can’t be identified. But the app still provides useful information that can be beneficial for iwi to help support their communities.”

Hudson believes the app has further significant benefits for iwi beyond Covid-19.
“What has been developed can also help with smear tests, breast checks, child immunisations,” she says.

If you would like to provide feedback on this news story, please contact the editor Rebecca McBeth.

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