Geoff Milner: Alaskan Indigenous Models of Health Care
Geoff Milner: In early June, our Ngāti Hine Health Trust Board Chair, Rowena Tana and I were fortunate to attend the South Central Foundation Core Concepts and NUKA Conference in Anchorage, Alaska.
The Nuka System of Care, based on Alaska Native values, is recognised as one of the world’s leading models of health care redesign.
The five-day conference proved to be an exciting cultural exchange with representatives from all over the globe. One of the concepts presented was the need for government recognition citing:
"If the people receiving the health service are involved in the decision making processes, better yet, if they own their own health care - programs and services have a potential for enhancement and the people and their health statistics will improve."
It is my view that New Zealand has a long way to to go to understand this concept and Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority is only the start, not the finish
