Partnership success

In 2017, FSM was approached by Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB) to be a partner in the development of an approach to address alcohol-related harm.  Having successfully developed the Alcohol Harm Minimisation Project across clinical settings, the DHB were looking to apply it in the community and have the same impact.  

CMDHB Project Lead Kaye Dennison saw the success we were having with whānau through our Family Start programme and approached us.

As FSM staff were already meeting with whānau, the project equipped them to identify where alcohol was causing harm. Given our relationships, staff were able to identify issues that might otherwise been missed, working with families to find additional support.

Partnering with the DHB has meant that we are able to complement each other's work, looking into public health issues and developing solutions for whānau.

Now, we are entering the research phase to gather data, and will start measuring the impact of this work. We are hopeful that through this partnership, we are able to build evidence that can support whānau across the entire country.