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Report Summary
This report is the final of three in a needs assessment study conducted by New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) and Niu Vision (NVG) for the Pacific branch of the Public Health Directorate of the Ministry of Health. The two earlier reports presented the findings from desk research and fono with Pacific public health providers/workers. The prime objectives of the entire study are to identify practical strategies to improve the representation of Pacific people in the public health workforce, including in leadership roles, and to address a number of workforce Development issues. The study was undertaken in the context of the development of a Public Health Workforce Development Plan.
Representation of Pacific people in public health
The Pacific public health workforce is small – a few hundred people. Pacific people are under-represented in most regulated public health roles. They are more strongly represented in community-facing roles. However, the situation is changing – the representation of Pacific people in the public health workforce has improved over recent years. Given Pacific people’s changing patterns of education and employment in New Zealand, it is likely to improve further in the future.
In the view of NZIER, the under-representation of Pacific people in the public health workforce is only a problem if it inhibits the uptake of services. Some Pacific people prefer to be treated by a Pacific health worker, which suggests that under-representation may indeed be a problem.
Whilst we have identified a number of potential strategies to increase the representation of Pacific people in public health, there is a lack of evidence on their effectiveness and value for money. There is no silver bullet.
Structured formal qualifications which accommodate a variety of routes by which public health competencies are gained offer one opportunity to improve the representation of Pacific people in public health, especially in leadership roles. Qualification entry requirements act as a barrier to some Pacific people considering public health careers. And once employed in a public health setting, some Pacific workers seem to be “stuck” in terms of career progression, partly because they tend to work in roles where career pathways are less prevalent. Minimising entry requirements, recognising prior learning, and formalising career pathways should assist both recruitment and retention, thus improving representation.
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