What we did

The New Zealand Ministry of Health engaged us to evaluate the transformation of the disability support system. This was a process evaluation and involved supporting the Try Learn and Adjust approach being adopted for Mana Whaikaha and the intention of on-going development. Mana Whaikaha a prototype of a transformed disability support system that placed disabled people at the centre of the support system. The evaluation was completed in December 2019.

How we did it

The evaluation involved qualitative interviews, focus groups and small group interviews with a wide range of stakeholders (123 participants) including disabled people and their families and whānau, the MidCentral Governance Group, members of the core groups, Mana Whaikaha staff providers and government officials from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Social Development and the MidCentral DHB.  Surveys were sent following focus groups with Kaitūhono/Connectors and providers, and a survey was also sent to support workers. The surveys provided open-response questions, and the intention was to allow people to respond individually and to gather further qualitative data.

The data collection for this evaluation took place between August 2019 and November 2019, and the evaluation focuses on the implementation of Mana Whaikaha from 1 October 2018 to November 2019. The evaluator was involved in meetings following the data collection period, and updates on changes since the data collection point in time have been included in this report.

Benefits for the client

Our extensive and respectful engagement with the relevant stakeholders provided the Ministry with a comprehensive evaluation of the disability support system.

The Ministry has published the report on their website; https://manawhaikaha.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Mana-Whaikaha-Implementation-Evaluation-Final-Version-3-March-2020-002.pdf.