Our mahi

Healthify is the jewel in HNCT's crown. Formerly known as Health Navigator NZ, it is the largest national health information website for people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Page views each month top 1.6 million.

Our award-winning website specialises in relevant, culturally acceptable, plain language information about health conditions, medicines, health promotion and self-care. 

Find out more about Healthify He Puna Waiora.

The Health Navigator Charitable Trust (HNCT) is dedicated to inspiring people living with long-term conditions (LTCs) to better self manage their health. We do this through educating health professionals on how to assist their patients to do this, and directly to patients themselves. Self-management support (SMS) is particularly beneficial for people living with LTCs, as it supports them to have a key role in the management of their own care.

HNCT is funded by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora to run a number of self-management projects, initiatives and resources.

1. The Healthify He Puna Waiora website is focused on supporting people living in Aotearoa New Zealand and health providers who are interested in self-management, care-planning, health literacy and working in partnership with whānau.

2. Our SMS Toolkit is a separate website for healthcare providers wanting easy access to resources that support them to better engage patients in their own health decisions and LTC self management. The website is loaded with SMS information, services, tools and resources for an Aotearoa New Zealand context.

The SMS Toolkit(external link) is a joint venture between Health Navigator Charitable Trust and Health Literacy NZ. A range of core topics is covered to support SMS implementation, training and skill development. These include sections and training modules for care planning, health literacy, goal setting, positive behaviour change, social support and groups visits. 

3. Te Kete Haerenga is our online self-management toolkit. Designed for and with people living with LTCs, Te Kete Haerenga is a series of self-management booklets or toolkits. The kete can be used to explore what is important to the person and their whānau, how their LTC affects their quality of life, what they wish to achieve and how others can best support them in that journey.

WOVEN was established in 2015 by the Ministry of Health and is run by HNCT to increase inclusion of tangata whaiora in the design, planning and development of health services in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Advisors draw on their skills and lived experience to provide input to task forces, reviews and advisory groups of government departments, public sector health agencies and private healthcare providers.

We do this to make sure health services, systems and supports are fit for purpose for all people living in Aotearoa New Zealand, especially those who live with disability and/or long-term health conditions.

WOVEN members provide consumer advocacy and perspective to:

• Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora teams
• other government departments engaged in health service delivery
• non-government organisations
• publicly funded agencies engaged in health services
• private and other healthcare providers
• HNCT and Healthify.

Services

• participation as members of local, regional and national steering groups, particularly groups set up to review or redesign various services
• provision of feedback on potential tools and services
• input at workshops etc to help co-create future services or resources
• testing of ideas with their own peers and networks
• delivery of workshops about consumer advocacy and working with consumers/tangata whaiora
• other forms of feedback and engagement.

Assignments

Some examples of WOVEN assignments:

1. Ministry of Health Hepatitis C project team
2. Interventional Cardiac Registry governance group
3. NZ Cardiac Surgery Registry governance group
4. CVD, diabetes and long-term conditions self-management workshops
5. Technology in General Practice workshop
6. Pharmacy Action Plan
7. Ministry of Health CVD, Diabetes and Long Term Conditions advisory group
8. Health Care Homes National Collaborative
9. Critical Care Services Planning Programme
10. healthAlliance regional IT infrastructure
11. Kaiawhina Workforce Taskforce
12. DHMAS app reviews
13. Medical student lectures
14. Palliative Care Advisory Panel EAG

Assignments are generally undertaken face-to-face but also through Zoom and Teams.

Coordination

The contract to manage and coordinate the work of WOVEN is held by the Health Navigator Charitable Trust, which reports to Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.

Contact WOVEN

Organisations or groups interested to know more about the service are welcome to contact WOVEN manager Frances King by emailing frances@hnct.nz

• Service coordinator: Fa'aulu Tomuli-Afoa
• Service manager: Frances King
• Clinical director and sponsor: Dr Janine Bycroft

If you would like to inform us of your assignment needs please fill in and return this form Client's Request Form for WOVEN Services. [PDF, 137 KB]

Resources

Health Consumer Advisory Service flyer [PDF, 266 KB] Healthify NZ & Ministry of Health, NZ, 2020

WOVEN team

The members of WOVEN range in age from 24 to 74, come from different backgrounds and regions, and bring a range of skills and experience. Most importantly, they are committed to partnering with healthcare providers to improve the quality of care and health and wellbeing outcomes for everyone living in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Cultural Advisory Group

Our Cultural Advisory Group is a collaborative of Māori and Pacific Peoples representatives dedicated to enhancing the cultural relevance, appropriateness and integrity of Health Navigator Charitable Trust (HNCT) initiatives. 

The group reviews both current and proposed initiatives, providing invaluable guidance on the culturally appropriate creation and dissemination of information and resources, focuses on strategies to expand HNCT networks and foster collaborative opportunities while ensuring that the perspectives and traditions of Māori and Pacific Peoples are respected, integrated and reflective of their respective communities.

Alice Chisnall-Kalouniviti	Alice Chisnall-Kalouniviti holds degrees in journalism and nursing, as well as postgraduate qualifications in professional practice and sociology. Currently serving as the Principal Advisor Pacific at Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health, Alice is also a registered nurse. With a career spanning almost 20 years in Māori and Pacific health, Alice has extensive experience in public health, general practice, healthcare policy, and health education.  Alice's professional interests focus on Neurodivergence, Rainbow health, and health literacy. As an iTaukei Fijian/Scottish AuDHD mother of two, Alice brings a unique and valuable perspective to her work. Outside of her professional life, Alice plays hockey, attends Armageddon in full Cosplay and collects ridiculous Hawaiian shirts.
Vitale Lafaele	Vitale Lafaele (BBS, Dip Pol, MInstD) is a business consultant with experience and skills amassed over 40 years in the public and corporate sectors. Multifaceted can best describe his blend of public, business, and governance experience acquired as a senior leader in operations, tactics, strategy, and governance environments. By professional background with over 3 decades of public and corporate sector experience, 20 years as a senior manager and executive leader in Auckland, National office, and Parliament. Unfortunately, Vitale suffered multiple strokes in 2014 and 2015 and heart surgery in 2017, which left him partially blind. His established business, Impactful conversations, is a culmination of his vast experience. He shares his professional knowledge and personal experience as a stroke survivor and redundancy to resetting and living with a disability. Vitale shares his lived experience as a keynote speaker and leadership and performance coach in the public sector. “Giving back to our communities especially life changing events is something I am passionate about. By reflecting on my own journey and being part of an organisation that I can continue to contribute and add value is what matters most”.
Tutuila Lio Va'auli	Talofa lava, Malo le soifua Tutuila Lio Va'auli is a proud New Zealand born Samoan and a fluent speaker of the Samoan language (matai language). He holds 2 matai tulafale (talking chief) titles from the village of Fasito’otai in Samoa. One of his major passions is community engagement and advocating for better health and lifestyle outcomes for our Maori and Pasifika communities here in Aotearoa. He brings 25 years of experience in the education sector, leading key initiatives to support various organisations in the Education, Social and Health sectors, to achieve objectives and the learning development of diverse communities. Service has always been something instilled Tutuila through his family, faith and culture.
Frances King	Ko Hikurangi te maunga Ko Waiapu te awa Ko Ngati Porou te iwi Ko Whanau a Ruataupare te hapu No Tokomaru Bay ahau Frances King graduated as a registered comprehensive nurse 30 years ago and has experience in both NGO and DHB health including leadership, management, primary care and specialising in child & youth mental health/mental health services. She has a passion for rural health, services for Māori and under-served communities to support building positive futures.  She started working for Health Navigator Charitable Trust as a project manager for self-management support for long term conditions in May 2023. Since then, she has increased her role to include community engagement and equity lead for the Trust, management of our WOVEN team and establishment of a Cultural Advisory Group.
Noel Matthews	Ongaro te Maunga Rotokakahi te Awa Mamari te Waka Morehu te Marae Kura Haupo te Whare, Te Uri O Tai te Hapu, Te Aupouri te Iwi Noel Matthews lives in Whangarei and has worked his entire life in health and disability roles with a particular leaning towards disability. He was attracted to the CAG committee as it offers the opportunity to give back to the community alongside other like-minded people from Moana Nui A kiwa the Pacific.
Tracey Thompson	Ko Pūtataka te Maunga Ko Waikato te Awa Ko Tainui te Waka Ko Ngāti Tāhinga te Hapu Ko Waikato te Iwi Ko Tracey Thompson ahau! Tīhei Mauri Ora!! Tracey Thompson is a mama, nana, daughter, sister, aunty, niece, mokopuna, and kaimahi. She has many roles that she is responsible for and learning along the way. She says that cultural positioning has many roles and responsibilities, with her unique value underpinned by her capacity to perceive situations through a bicultural lens, drawing upon her Māori heritage and cultural competencies to frame indigenous solutions. Tracey’s kaupapa Māori background and lived experience forms the basis of her leadership acumen, strategic vision and adeptness leading cross-functional teams and environments. Health and Wellbeing within our whānau whanui, facing barriers and triumphs is the driving force behind her years of working in hauora.   Whāia te iti kahurangi Ki te tūohu koe Maunga teitei   Seek the treasure you value most dearly, If you bow your head, Let it be to a lofty mountain. Mauri Ora!!

This online forum(external link) provides a place for health providers, managers, consumers, academics and funders to discuss, network, share knowledge and resources on topics relating to improving chronic care, long-term condition management, co-production and much more. The site includes the option for blogs, special interest groups, resource library, event postings, photo gallery, discussion boards and more. 

HNCT has invested in API (application programme interface) technology and coded medicines information to allow safe content sharing with organisations. Content can be fed from our Healthify website directly to your website and integrated with your patient portal, providing seamless information when your patients or clients need it. The content is updated at source and automatically shared through the API. To find out more and how to apply for an API feed, please contact: sarah@hnct.nz

With the growing number of mobile health apps available, it’s often a challenge to know which ones can be trusted and provide up-to-date, well-researched information.

The New Zealand Health App Library, run by the Health Navigator Charitable Trust and funded by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, has 100's of apps that have been reviewed by experts, so you know which to trust.

The Digital Health Accreditation Pathway (DHAP) is an assessment framework and proposed accreditation pathway for the safe navigation of digital tools and solutions in Aotearoa New Zealand. It's intended to guide whānau and clinicians to identify the best apps and digital solutions for particular conditions. It also provides the sector with quality standards and an assessment process to identify tools that are clinically sound, culturally relevant, user friendly, technically safe and meet security and privacy standards.

The standardised assessment of digital tools and e-health is an emerging space globally. The DHAP assessment framework outlines baseline standards to deliver safe, trusted and effective digital health and wellbeing solutions for individuals, whānau and communities across Aotearoa New Zealand. 

The DHAP framework assesses e-health tools against a range of areas including:

• clinical safety and quality
• data privacy and security
• cultural safety.

Additional development of a formal accreditation pathway is underway and this includes an Aotearoa New Zealand enhanced review that covers areas such as data sovereignty, cultural safety, advertising standards and user feedback responsiveness.

The framework applies to apps and tools (eg, mobile apps and online programs) that are digitally delivered and aim to support health in some way. This can include wellness-oriented apps if there is a clear health-related focus and benefit. For more information please contact: sarah@hnct.nz

Together with KidsHealth and HealthInfo Waitaha/Canterbury, the trust is building a National Health Content Hub to address equity needs through diverse partnerships and representation.

The hub will be a national repository for high-quality consumer-focused digital health, self-care and hauora information that can be shared with the public via as many websites as possible. Currently, we are recruiting more partners to share their resources with us in preparation for the hub's next steps.

Find out more about the  National Health Content Hub [PDF, 2.8 MB]

Interested in getting involved? Please contact: sarah@hnct.nz 

Take advantage of our content expertise – to align with your goals

Talk to us about our expert plain language content co-creation. We use our networks and content partners to bring you culturally acceptable resources in a wide range of languages relevant to your topic and region.

Get content at your fingertips – without lifting a finger

We have invested in API (application programme interface) technology and coded medicines information to allow safe website content sharing with organisations. Our content can be fed directly to your website and integrated with your patient portal, providing seamless information when your patients or clients need it. The content is updated at source and automatically shared through the API.

Don’t reinvent the wheel – brand our content as yours

Leverage our branding and reputation and talk with us about co-branding or customising our newsletters, social media posts and resources. This will enable you to provide information your patients and clients can trust, in a timely and cost-effective way. 

Small website, limited budget? We can help with that!

Extend your reach by letting us bring more people to your organisation through a customised section on our website. You choose what topics are included and we work together to co-design audience appropriate content and promotion. Then we loop people back to your site. 

Include the right voices – tap into our lived experience network

Employ the skills of our Whanau Ora Voice of Experience Network (WOVEN to help you design, plan and develop your health services so you get the best possible outcomes. Our WOVEN lived experience advisors bring a range of demographic, cultural, disability and minority perspectives and backgrounds. They work with a range of organisations, including the Ministry of Health, Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, Synergia, DHBs, PHOs, advisory and governance groups and universities. 

Long-term conditions clinical network

Join our network of healthcare professionals with an interest in working with people with long-term conditions. The network provides a space for shared learnings, interest groups and forums. 

Expand your offerings ‒ subscribe to our news channels

We have a selection of popular e-newsletters and social media channels to keep you up to date with what is relevant to your communities. We also offer our news content in template format to make your messaging to patients and clients easier.

Expand your offerings even further ‒ become a hub partner

We're developing a national health content hub. As medicine and technology have advanced, clinicians have made some awesome discoveries and can treat so many more conditions. However, collectively, we’ve also created a health system and information maze that is often overwhelming and challenging to navigate or understand. We believe a national hub that houses consistent high quality health information from the sector will go a long way to solving this.

Make contact: hello@hnct.nz