Small, sustained changes. Big impact.

He iti te mokoroa, nāna i kati te kahikatea

The mokoroa (grub) may be small, but it cuts through the Kahikatea

It has been a couple of months since our last issue of The Indicator. This has been an intentional acknowledgement of the pressure our workforce continues to face as Aotearoa New Zealand responds to the devastation of the significant weather events experienced in Te Ika-a-Māui (North Island). Our aroha (love) and thoughts remain with everyone who has lost so much during this time.

What we continue to learn from the adverse events impacting our communities is it is often the small things that can make the biggest difference. Our engagement with people working in the mental health and addiction sector this quarter has reinforced this theme and we are noticing more services with a desire to share how the small, sustained changes they are making on a regular basis are improving their ability to deliver better care for tāngata whai ora and whānau.

Understanding the impact of small changes over time remains a challenge and we hear from the workforce regularly about how the fear of data can be a barrier to engaging with local and national data collections. The KPI Programme team have been listening to these concerns and working on growing options to support data interpretation and understanding as well as improving current tools available through the Programme. Some of these initiatives are captured in this issue and the team look forward to expanding these over the coming months.

In response to sector feedback, the KPI Programme have increased the frequency of Benchmarking Breakouts and you can register for these at any time from the Events page on the website. We are fortunate to work in a sector where generosity of spirit is available in spades and Benchmarking Breakouts have exemplified the willingness of our workforce to share innovation, resources and stories to help each other in their continuous improvement journeys. If you have time, we encourage you to sign up and get involved in these wānanga style sessions.

As always, the KPI Programme team is here to help. Whether it is support to use the data dashboards, coordinating a community of interest, or developing more bespoke solutions, do not hesitate to reach out at info@mhakpi.health.nz.

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