Apprenticeship Journey

… to the April issue of the Apprenticeship Journey, our bi-monthly newsletter for enrolled apprentices.

We hope you are staying on track of the goals you set earlier in the year. We’ve seen a real lift in apprenticeship activity rates for the year to date, so if you’ve contributed to this, keep it going!

In this issue we focus on the module It’s about Aotearoa. Your Apprenticeship Advisors share their general guidance so you can appreciate this module a bit more and nail the assessment.

We have another Netflix recommendation and our usual quiz to give you a chance to win 1 of 3 $50 prezzy cards!

This module explores:

the current health and wellbeing sector in Aotearoa New Zealand including factors that influence health and wellbeing
issues you and your workplace may face
future directions for the health and wellbeing sector

We encourage you to go through the learning resources to ensure you have the right understanding and definitions to be able to answer the assessment.
The assessment has two tasks that your Apprenticeship Advisor suggests you look at together and tie your answers across both tasks.

TASK 1

Task 1 asks you to identify 5 priority areas and 5 challenges that make it harder for people in Aotearoa to achieve good health and wellbeing outcomes.

A priority is WHAT we want to achieve.

You also need to explain WHY they are priorities. Write at least one paragraph explaining each priority.

The new assessment asks the following:

What is the key priority area?
Why is it a key priority area?
How will addressing it contribute to the health and wellbeing outcomes of the people of Aotearoa?
Why is this priority relevant to your own role?
What is the challenge in addressing the priority?
How does this challenge create a barrier to improving health and wellbeing outcomes for New Zealanders?
How does this challenge impact on your role?
How does this challenge impact the people you support?

TASK 2

Task 2 asks you to identify and outline three contemporary initiatives that aim to improve the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders. An initiative is the HOW we will address health and wellbeing priority areas.

Contemporary initiatives can include any policies, strategies, plans, trials or emerging models produced by New Zealand government ministries, agencies and commissions, sector peak bodies or policy groups.

Examples:

Healthy Ageing Strategy
Smokefree New Zealand 2025
Social Housing Reform programme
Enabling Good Lives or other new model initiatives eg. Choices in Community Living, Local Area Coordination
NZ Disability Strategy
Dementia care framework

We gathered tips from your Apprenticeship Advisors to help you nail this assessment.

1. Tie your answers to Tasks 1 and 2 together.
We already said but we’ll say it again. Make sure that your chosen priorities in Task 1 can be related to the initiatives you choose for Task 2.
For example, if you chose promoting healthy ageing and improving access to services as a priority, an initiative that could support that priority could be the Government Healthy Ageing Strategy.

2. Consider priorities and initiatives within the sector you work in and the wider sector.
It will be easier to talk about something that has relevance to your own role.
For example, if you work in the disability sector, you may want to choose a priority to make communities more accessible. By doing this, you are able to draw from your experience and the experience of the people you support when you talk about why this needs to be a priority. Then, as an initiative, you may want to choose Enabling Good Lives. You will then have the knowledge and experience to discuss how this initiative impact you, your workplace, and the people you support.

3. Talk to your manager or contact your Apprenticeship Advisor.
You have people around you that can support you that may be more familiar with these sector-wide initiatives than yourself. If you’re feeling stuck, reach out and ask for help.

Two Mahitahi Trust Community Support Workers have become shining lights for young people during their darkest days as they walk alongside them on their road to wellness.

Thanks to the Careerforce supported apprenticeship, and commitment from their employer, Mahitahi Trust, the duo have been able to embark on their own challenging journey, as they support the wellbeing of others. Both have successfully graduated with a New Zealand Apprenticeship in Mental Health and Addiction.

Read more