The Mana Ake – Stronger for Tomorrow initiative achieved a special milestone this week when they welcomed 19 new team members, marking the final scheduled intake of dedicated wellbeing and mental health workers to support Canterbury’s five to 12 year olds.

The Minister of Health took the opportunity to talk to children, teachers and special education needs coordinators (SENCOs) today when he visited Christchurch to talk about the innovative initiative providing wellbeing and mental health support to children.

With the silly season almost upon us, it’s timely to remember the useful tools of the trade that makes sharing and collaboration that bit easier for staff and patients over the festive season. The suite of electronic shared care plans – The Acute Plan, the Personalised Care Plan (PCP), and the Advance Care Plan – enables clinicians from different health services to collaborate and share important information that can improve patient care.

People leaving prison in Canterbury will benefit from improved support to navigate and access health and social supports thanks to collaboration between Health, Corrections and the social service sector.

A trial collaboration between the Hurunui’s general practices and St John means local people can access urgent care after-hours from the district’s GP teams.

Canterbury’s Better Breathing Programme has upped the ante on this week’s exercise and coffee mornings to mark World COPD Day (21 November).

Canterbury's older people are being offered a day's free access to exercise classes designed to improve strength and balance to celebrate International Day of the Older Person (1 October).

Research describing the factors contributing to the need for, and successes of, a new model of care for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) post-quake has been published in the British Medical Journal.