Atawhai

Making it safe to talk about family violence in health care

Kia tau ngā manaakitanga a ngā atua katoa ki runga i a tātou e whai oranga ana. Tū whakahirahira mai te maunga o Mauao, marino ana te moana o Tauranga.
Ngā wāhi hīkoikoi a ō mātou tūpuna kua moe, ngā mate o te wā, okioki atu koutou, haere atu rā.
Tēnei te whānau ATAWHAI e mihi atu ana
Tēnā koe, tēnā kōrua, tēnā koutou katoa!

“Family violence is a key determinant of ill-health inadequately recognised in health care policy and practice. Without adequate system support, health professionals can often be unsure of what to do, or how to help, missing opportunities to provide support. Atawhai aims to make it easier to respond to family violence in primary care, by building a network of trusted relationships between clinicians and kaimahi who share skillsets and information to support safe, relational responses to whānau and families, responsive to complex needs over time.”

At the heart of Atawhai is whānau. Men, women and children need empathetic, compassionate and helpful responses when seeking care for using or experiencing violence at home. 

The Atawhai Network

Founded on a te Tiriti-based partnership, Atawhai is generating an influential network of primary care professionals dedicated to preventing family violence. See the founding members here. This distinctively health-sector-led network connects frontline health care professionals and organisations with information and tools to safely journey with whānau and families in their experience of family violence. Atawhai is a relational response and relies on developing relationships across settings, sharing and learning from one another and translating knowledge between different health care disciplines and contexts. Members of the Atawhai network gain confidence in knowing what to do and how to help, have access to trusted local referral services and can share challenges with like-minded people. Although not a ‘quick fix’, the Atawhai network is a long-term health care response to family violence that continually evolves in response to need.”

Our Partners & Collaborators

This research is funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand.
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