Above top: Jane Pou (middle) going off road to visit whānau on Motiti Island with local guides. Left: Jane and Gill (right) outside the historic Te Ataahua Whare Karakia.
Right: Gill putting her gumboots to good use on the island.
Care closer to home
Recently Gill Ebbing, Occupational Therapist,
Health in Aging (HIA) Community Response
Team, flew with Jane Pou, Assessor, Support
Net Tauranga, to Motiti Island. The pair donned
their gumboots to visit locals and assess their
health needs.
Here they share their experience.
A 10 minute flight from Tauranga, Motiti Island is a paradise for
diving, fishing, swimming and snorkelling and just getting away from
city life. It’s also home to a population of around forty people and as
it’s an isolated small community, most people know each other.
We travelled to the island following up a referral from a GP who
travels to the island once a month. Our aim was to connect with
elderly patients and whānau in their familiar home environment,
hear their concerns along with those of the GP, and form an
agreed plan to address these challenges. In the Community
Response Team we focus on comprehensively assessing the
health and support needs of older people living in their homes.
By visiting them in their home, we see issues which may have an
impact on their ability to stay well and remain living independently.
We can identify things like trip hazards or fall risks, behaviours,
stressors and strengths that may not have been obvious in a
clinic or ward environment. With this information we can assist
with appropriate strategies, techniques, problem solving and or
assistive equipment, including hand rails or ramps that can make a
huge difference to an older person’s health and confidence.
Through talking to whānau on the Island we were able to arrange
respite care for two families caring for loved ones and make sure
they were better connected to support each other going forward.
We also arranged for suitable mobility aids, seating, pressure
care mattresses, continence products, and support railing to help
maintain safety for all involved.
It was our first trip to Motiti Island and we came home with
wonderful memories of the beautiful landscape and people and
with the knowledge that our service will enable people to be well
supported in their homes in future.
As a result of the trip we are better connected with the Ngati Kahu
Hauora running monthly clinics on the Island and continue to have
contact supporting whānau there when required.
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