Most Kiwis are familiar with the fantastic services of Whānau Āwhina Plunket. After all, Plunket nurses see around 75% of newborn babies in their homes nationwide. However, that’s only part of the story. Plunket also provides a comprehensive range of community services, including playgroups, parent education programmes, and injury prevention initiatives.
A registered charity, Plunket is the country’s largest health and wellbeing provider for children. In West Auckland alone, 14,902 tamariki aged under five are currently registered with Plunket.
Bronwyn Harvey, Northern Regional Grants Specialist, says Plunket’s nurses are out in people’s homes and communities every day, putting them in a unique position to identify the families that need support the most.
Furthermore, Bronwyn says that working in collaboration is central to Plunket’s mahi. In The West, the organisation works closely with the police and is a service provider in their AWHI programme, a tikanga-based voluntary referral initiative.
Car accidents are one of the biggest dangers to young children in New Zealand. Plunket’s injury prevention programme, led by certified Injury Prevention Coordinators, is crucial in addressing this issue. ‘As well as gifting car seats to whānau in need, our coordinators assess the car safety needs of families,’ says Bronwyn. This includes helping with installation and providing expert car safety education to families who the police have often referred.
Bronwyn advises that Health NZ Te Whatu Ora funds Plunket to carry out its wellbeing checks on babies and toddlers. However, the organisation relies on funders, donations, and fundraising efforts for its community services, including the crucial injury prevention programme.
The Trusts has a long and proud tradition of supporting the car seat programme. Plunket received $10,000 in the latest Your West Support Fund. The money has been well spent on car seat resources and the costs of delivering the injury prevention programme in The West.
Kimiyo Yamasaki, Injury Prevention Coordinator in The West, says the programme has made a huge difference. She shared the example of a family in The West whose 14-month-old baby was still in a capsule car seat. Car seats can be expensive, and the family could not afford an upgrade. They also had a 4-year-old child who was too big for his car seat, and the family was unsure what would suit him.
Kimiyo visited the family at home and explored the best options. She also ensured the new car seats were correctly installed. ‘A lot of car seats are shared between whānau, and people do not know how to fit them properly,’ she advises. Kimiyo says that the four-year-old in this family was super-excited to finally have his own brand-new car seat.
Check out the Plunket website for more information about the car seat programme and injury prevention initiatives.
