Rongoā Māori gets boost in Hutt Valley
Brooke Cootes says she’s had more healing from rongoā Māori in the past year than she’s had from Western medicine.
Cootes (Ngāti Raukawa) was in and out of hospital and her GP’s clinic last year after the left side of her body went numb, and says no-one could give her answers.
“They were all saying we can't help you ... There’s just no help.”
Then, her father died, and her counsellor recommended she try rongoā, centred around traditional indigenous healing and total well-being.
While the cause of her numbness remains a mystery, rongoā has allowed her to work through the stress of the past year and the grief of losing whānau.
“This has helped me get the most out of everything,” she said, after her eighth session at the Manawa Ora clinic, at the bottom of Wellington’s Ngauranga gorge.
“I had lots of tension in my body ... they haven’t just helped that, they’ve helped my mind. So now I’m looking for more of this, rather than the normal healthcare system.“
Cootes was among the first batch of clients funded to attend the Manawa Ora clinic through Te Awakairangi, a primary health organisation (PHO) that covers about 115,000 patients in Hutt Valley and Wainuiomata.
Last Tuesday, the two organisations signed a memorandum of understanding, which will give patients in the Hutt Valley access to rongoā fully funded by the PHO.
Manawa Ora’s managing director Jolie Davis (Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kurī) said the move was a significant step for meeting the needs of people in the Hutt community who trust rongoā over other health providers.
“Often we are the front door for many people who don’t go and see general practitioners or don’t trust mainstream healthcare.
“This is a safe space for them to come. To be seen, to be heard.
“Our wairua (soul) ... doctors don’t address that, but with us sometimes it's the most important thing that needs to be addressed first,” Davis said.
Each session is worth $120 and people usually attend six, Davis said.
Previously the only subsidy was available via ACC, which still left a $20 fee and left “a whole lot of whānau not on ACC who want to come in and can’t afford the cost”, Davis said.
Te Awakairangi’s service general manager Carrie Henderson said the PHO got behind the service in an effort to better meet the needs of the Hutt community “particularly in our mental health spaces”.
“It’s providing options and valuing traditional practices. They can co-exist together and people can get benefits from both. It doesn’t have to be a choice.”
The partnership also includes commitments from the PHO to train staff in rongoā to support referrals and to bring mirimiri and romiromi (traditional Māori healing and bodywork) to the Hutt communities through regular weekend community clinics.
Rongoā is for everyone, and 40% of Manawa Ora’s clients are non-Māori, Davis said. This figure is reflected in ACC data, which also found rongoā Māori ACC claims doubled in the year to May 2023.