Health and Well Being in the Tamaru Community - Essay Example

By the year 2020, most people will be living in urban environments. So by that time there would be greater resources available to all its residents but there would also be many other different challenges. Therefore, the first priority will be to make sure all citizens have access to safe and affordable outlets for exercise and recreation, particularly the elderly and children (McMurray, 2004). This essay is going to be based on the health and wellness of the community we live in and through this essay I will define primary health care and also explain the three of five main principles of Ann McMurray. Primary health care plays a major role big in community health well being and health promotion. What is primary health care? Primary health care is the health care that is provide by various health care professionals who first come in contact with patients within the health care system. For example - looking at Tamara community health and wellness, I found the suburb of Tamarau is affordable and accessible but not so much available. My group carried out a research within the Tamarau community and I believe that availability and health promotion in community are an important factor contributing to community health and well-being but these amenities are not readily and easily available. Tamarau is a very small community with a very limited population and compared with most of the area in Gisborne has about 570 families in the area. The suburb of Tamarau has moderately to low living area where some of the residents are well- kept and some are not. Most of the residents have accessibility to cars, that makes the family’s need for health care much more accessible, which is a vital necessity within a community. The Kapai Kaiti in Tamarau is responsible for looking after the wellbeing of the people within its community. Besides this, Tamarau has many mobile health and social after serviced hours, so this is making healthcare and social services easily accessible for the Tamarau community. There are no facilities for shopping around the Tamarau area, so if one needs to do some shopping they would have to go to Kaiti Mall. Some of the other facilities available there are the Super- value supermarket, pharmacy bank, police station, hairdresser salons, the Maori warden’s association, the dairy, the bakery, fish and chips the red door liquor store, work and income NZ, TAB , Laundromat, vdo shop the Tuhono Whanau and the Puhi Kati Medical Mall. Most of the Tamarau community spends lots of time in T.A.B. There are many ethnic groups that contribute to the community and that is where the recreation happens at the Tamarau community. Regarding church services, the New Life Christian School is there where most of the Tamarau community attends the church on Sunday morning, helping the community mix very well with all the different ethnic groups. Culture is the major factor in community interaction and our participation in the community’s health requires cultural sensitivity, ( A, McMurray 2007, p40). Quality of footpaths, street lighting public transport, traffic management and the pedestrian crossing are poor and some streets do not even have footpaths to walk on. Tamarau A Community Observation Project Population: According to a 2001 census taken of the Kaiti population, Tamarau’s percentage of population amounted to 24% with 2,337 people. Outer Kaiti has 25% with 2,427 people. Coming to the North and south regions of Kaiti, the South has a percentage of 29% with 2,736 people while the North has 22% with 2,064 people. Ethnic groups: There are many ethnic groups that contribute to the community. A larger part comprises of the Maoris which account for 76.9%, followed by the Europeans whose percentage is 36.4 %. Other ethnic groups contribute in a smaller way with Pacific people accounting for 5.5%, Asians with 0.8% and various other small groups that make up another 0.1%. Education: Education is not a top priority in Tamarau. The literate people who were 15 years and above had a post – school qualifications amounts to only 19.9%, whereas the major part of the population comprising of around 46.4% have no qualification what – so – ever. Family and Household: Tamarau has a total of around 570 families comprising of 38.4% couples with children and 18.9% of couples without children. The remaining 42.1% of families comprise of a solo parent. Regarding households Tamarau has approximately 693 households whose average size is about 3.3. The approximate average annual expenditure for households in Tamarau is about $32, 467. The average family expenditure annually for food amounts to $6, 063, for housing $7,089 on housing, $4,796 for housing operations and $ 4,799 on commuting and transportation. Available Amenities: There are no facilities for shopping around the Tamarau area, so if one needs to do some shopping they would have to go to Kaiti Mall. Some of the other facilities available there are the Super – value supermarket, Pharmacy, Bank, Police station, Hairdressing salons, the Maori Warden’s Association, the Dairy, the Bakery, Fish and Chips, the police station, the Red Door Liquor Store, Work and Income NZ, T.A.B, Laundromat, Video shop, the Tuhono Whanau and the Puhi Kaiti Medical Mall. Recreation: The people of Tamarau engage themselves in some recreational activity during their leisure hours. Tamarau has two parks- one is the Heath Johnston Reserve which is used for various types of sporting events like golf, rugby, touch rugby and softball. It also has a children’s playground which they use for playing games. The other park is called Ida Road Reserve which is chiefly used as a thoroughfare which is used to gain access to other adjacent streets. This park too has a playground for children. On the outskirts of Tamarau is the beautiful Sponge Bay Beach which becomes exceptionally popular during the summer. Religious Organizations: The religious organizations in Tamarau are – “The Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses”, “The Tamarau Community Church” and “The new Life Christian School.” Other Social Agencies: At the Kaiti Mall, the Tuhono Whanau Center is the closest social agency available. Besides this, there is the Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ), the Association of Maori Wardens and the Police Station. The Kapai Kaiti is a forum that was founded in the year 2000 and is dedicated to looking after the wellbeing of the individuals in the community. Besides this there are other important mobile health social services which include – 1) Outreach Nurses, (Immunisation) 2) Meals on wheels, 3) Plunket, (Well child) 4)Sunshine Services.(care of the elderly) Employment: The Tamarau community has an unemployment rate of about 14.5%. The sales and service workers group was the most popular occupational group of the Tamarau community with a percentage of 16.7%. The geographic units or business locations in Tamarau are about 36 in number. Accessibility: One of McMurray’s key points in her book is Accessibility. She stresses on the availability and accessibility of health care which is a vital necessity within a community. The Kapai Kaiti in Tamarau is responsible for looking after the well being of the individuals with its community. Besides this, Tamarau has many mobile health social services which include – 1) Outreach Nurses, (Immunization) 2) Meals on wheels, 3) Plunket, (Well child) 4)Sunshine Services.(care of the elderly) Appropriate Technology: Tamarau is a small community and is not very technology savvy. McMurray tells us that for proper development to take place in a community new technology should be brought in and utilized. Increased Emphasis on Community Health: Anne McMurray gives us an insight into the importance of good health between individuals living in a community. According to McMurray, the community forms the core center for the promotion of good health especially when people live within a community and work, eat, play and sleep together. She explores the ways and means of good health while taking into consideration the social, educational, cultural, economical and political environments that present themselves. Inter-sectoral Collaboration: The fulcrum around which McMurray’s book revolves is the centrality of the family in relation to the health and wellness of the community. McMurray makes use of the Ottawa Charter as a sort of guideline to direct and support both families and individuals to achieve good health at every stage in their lives. In her book McMurray highlights various important health care strategies involving different health care professionals in order to minimize risks and potentially improve health within the community. She brings to the forefront the important role of different health care professionals who help to build the health, wellbeing and resilience of individuals and families living in the community. Public participation: McMurray’s book advocates proper decision making through public participation which would culminate into presenting us with the best processes and some of the best practices that could be used within the community in the promotion of good health and wellbeing of all its individuals. The Tamarau community is trying its best to engage public participation to develop different areas within the community. References: Tamarau Community Profile www.kapaikaiti.com/profile.doc Anne McMurray. (2007) Community Health and Wellness: a socio- ecological approach. Published by Elsevier, Australia. Pgs. 408 The people of Tamarau engage themselves in some recreational activity during their leisure hours.Tamarau has two parks, one is the Heath Johnston reserve which is used for various types of sporting events like golf, rugby, touch rugby, and softball. It also has a children’s playground, which is safe, but in the park itself have some hazard to looked at. For examples, the open drains and the water- filled ditches in the park, this is not safe for children. In addition, the park is on the edge of the busy high way, and there are no safe parking places. And this can be environmental health factors in community. Second Park is Ida road reserve, which is chiefly used as a thoroughfare, which is use to gain access to other adjacent streets. This park also has a playground for children and the easy to parking area. On outskirt of Tamarau is beautiful Sponge Bay beach, which is become exceptionally popular during the summer time Read More