Review of services for people living with HIV in New Zealand

Inquiry9. How is impact, effectiveness and valueassessed, and what have those assessmentsindicated to date?Criteria employedFrequency and modes of assessmentsEvidence of data for policy10. Are there any gaps in service coverage thatneed future investment?11. Are there plans for service development orevolution?ResponseOutcomes are measured by short term, mid term and long term goals.Each programme that INA administers included a client evaluation andfeedback form. When education seminars are conducted whether inpartnership with other organisations or alone, INA is able to captureinformation relevant to results and performance, this is then collatedand analysed for evidential reasons and funding. This data is thenreported via minutes, reports and announcements.INA operates by donations and grants with $75,000 received in our firstyear of operation. However, the following year, showed a significantdecline in funding availability for our services. Issues facing funding forINA include; a small pool of funding available for HIV, other groupscompeting for same pool of funding, and the perceived ‘newness’ ofour organisation. When speaking to funders, they appreciate the needfor the service, but also voice concerns about lack of support fromlarger services that hold government contracts and MOH support.The identified gaps are the provision of culturally approved andappropriate services to Māori, indigenous and Pacific peoples. Withemphasis on; Māori for Māori (PI for PI) education and awareness onHIV to the community – whānau, hapū and iwi.There are non‐Māori specific services available to PLWHA; however INArecognised a gap for Māori for Māori support, whānau support, bybeing a member of the non‐māori specific services. Regardless ofwhere and when, the māori gravitated towards each other and grew innumbers, with the question of “Why don’t we have a Māori AIDSFoundation?”. 6 This question was answered by Māori; women, men,Takatāpui/MSM, transgender, PLWHA, kaumātua, whānau, hapū andiwi – that the time has come to have a Māori AIDS Foundation. Hencethe registration of INA (Māori, indigenous and HIV/AIDS) Foundation.INA is the gap and the need for future investment.INA has a comprehensive business plan highlighting the capacitybuilding and development of the services, including:continued training of PLWHA to be educators and advocatesHIV campaigns nationally for whānau, hapū and iwi usingmultimedia resources, and travelling road showresearch projectsohu mahi – development of key PLWHA graduates of previouswānanga to be satellite services throughout New Zealand; capacitybuildingdevelop communications strategy, to reach rural and remote areas,as well as urban. Incorporate Pacific Island AIDS ambassadors toeducate their New Zealand resident Pacific peoplessource rapid testing, and provide voluntary testing and counsellingemploy a whānau support coordinator to liaison and refer to otherservices, a Communications coordinator, an education coordinator,event coordinator and two HIV health promotersemploy a further mental health professional, HIV nurse specialist,administration team of three, and a research project manager.62005 Pan Pacific AIDS Conference, Māori Caucus meeting.REVIEW OF SERVICES FOR PLHA 69