Enhancing patient leadership and community engagement through storytelling: Reflections from rural healthcare in New Zealand

Bolden, Fiona; Bolden, Richard

Abstract

Over recent years there has been increasing emphasis on the need for community engagement and patient leadership in order to tackle health inequalities. Active community engagement is widely recognised as an essential ingredient for a successful and sustainable health service, especially in remote rural areas where patients are widely dispersed and funding and access to services is limited.
A place-based approach to the leadership of healthcare is particularly important where there are significant differences in the needs and health outcomes of local populations . This is the case in New Zealand, where Maori populations have a 10-year reduced life expectancy compared to NZ Europeans (Pakeha), a statistic that is exacerbated further in rural communities. In such contexts, non-medical community leaders have a pivotal role to play in identifying and articulating the needs of local populations, promoting health-related activities and supporting healthcare provision and fundraising activities in areas where public funding and facilities are constrained.
The resilience and responsiveness of health provision (both preventative and curative) in such contexts is dependent on an ‘integrative’ or ‘systems’ leadership approach built on collective engagement and collaboration between healthcare practitioners and community leaders. Whilst there is little doubt about the potential value of such an approach, however, the way(s) in which this is achieved, and how learning and insights can be shared to inform and enhance provision in other places remains a significant challenge.
In this paper, the lead author shares insights from her personal experience of nearly 20-years as a health professional working in rural New Zealand. Through a range of illustrative examples, she highlights some of the opportunities and challenges of securing effective community engagement with rural communities. Particular attention will be paid to the potential of storytelling and public narrative and how this can be used at different levels – local, regional and national - to mobilise community engagement in healthcare leadership.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: International Studying Leadership Conference
• Start Date: Dec 15, 2019
• End Date: Dec 17, 2019
• Deposit Date: Nov 28, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 2, 2020
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6903416