Hearty response to Mongrel Mob health initiative
When the Mongrel Mob presented a strategic health plan to Waikato District Health Board executive Darrin Hackett, he knew he needed to get radical.
So on Saturday, Hearty Hauora took place. It’s thought to be the first time a gang and a DHB have partnered for a health initiative.
More than 200 gang members and their families met up with 24 health providers at the YMCA in Hamilton.
Members were given a Hearty Hauora (hearty health) passport to get signed off by each provider after being checked out.
Some members had never been to a doctor. Ever.
The services ranged from before-school checks for children, breast-screening, cervical screening, blood pressure and diabetes tests and healthy diet discussions. Even sexual health was addressed.
A Mongrel Mob member who did not want his name used said gang members were disengaged from government services for good reason.
‘‘When you grow up being told you are the worst of the worst because of the colour of your skin and the heritage that runs through your veins, you disengage from that. And I’m not talking about the gang life, I’m talking about being Maori.
‘‘People will read this and think – oh, here we go again. But if they look at it from this point, that discomfort they feel when there is a gang member near them is exactly how our Pacific, Maori, anyone brown without a suit feels when they have to talk or interact with a government agency.
‘‘But today is the start of something new. I feel safe and accepted here – it’s pretty cool.’’
Karl Nathan, from the Whirinaki Mongrel Mob chapter, also had a revelation – he found out his blood pressure was a little on the high side.
‘‘Being able to get a full checkup has been amazing and a good experience. It has been good for my babies,’’ Nathan said.
‘‘Being a gangster is not always about walking around with a patch on. It’s different now. It’s about being a good dad, being positive and thinking about a better future for my kids.’’
Waikato Mongrel Mob leader Sonny Fatupaito said gang families usually wait till things are dire before heading to the doctor.
He said the strategic plan he and his members worked on was about closing that divide. They want their families to be fit and healthy.
‘‘We look at the amount of funerals we’ve been to in the last few years and you know it’s just people dying way before their time. It’s about encouraging us to look at health decisions and choices that we need to do,’’ Fatupaito said.
The gang has a range of exercise regimes in place for members and their families.
‘‘Our children need to understand that it is important to make better decisions and choices for them and their health and encourage our people to not be shy to go into the doctor’s and get checked out and sometimes it’s because they can’t afford to, so an opportunity like this is a blessing. It allows their services and expertise to be here for our people to have that choice and the type of resources that are there.’’
Paula Ormsby, another of the Mob’s drivers behind the strategic plan, said it was about uplifting the people.
‘‘Rather than going to all the different services we worked to collate them and bring them together,’’ Ormsby said.
‘‘This is about prevention. This is a strategy created and driven by our people.’’
Hackett said the strategic plan was a fascinating insight into how gang culture has changed.
Fatupaito and members came to the hospital to talk through the strategy and help DHB health providers understand the world they would be interacting with.
‘‘They reached out to us, saying this is where we want to go, we want to create different futures and we want to create hope for our people and we want to normalise how we get healthy,’’ Hackett said.
‘‘This is definitely a first-time event. What we want to do is learn from this, because this is a really good way of people engaging in health in a way that they’re comfortable with. And it’s very much around some of the values that the DHB is working with about giving and earning respect.’’
Hackett said the strategy driven by the Mob could be replicated across the country.
‘‘To get radical improvement, you have to do radical things. This is what it’s about.’’