Description

Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust (“Rauawaawa”) is a non-profit registered charitable entity unique in its set up as a Kaumātua governed and led organisation servicing the needs of Kaumātua within Kirikiriroa (Hamilton). Rauawaawa provides a range of health, social, educational, cultural, recreational, housing and financial services to enhance the quality of life and well-being of Kaumātua. Rauawaawa serves Kaumātua who live within a20km radius of Hamilton City. The majority of Kaumātua enrolled with the organisation are over the age of 55, Māori, female and live in areas that are regarded as high on the scale of the New Zealand deprivation index. The whānau they support often face the same socio-economic and health challenges as they do and through 2012 – 2013 the number of suicides both actual and attempted within their whānau have increased.

Through the Waka Hourua Community Fund, Rauawaawa focused on the development of Kaumātua friendly resources and tools that will help Kaumātua identify whānau members at risk of suicide; to provide Kaumātua with the knowledge required to enable them to effectively support their whānau in suicide prevention and postvention. The Kīwai Rangahau, Te Rau Matatini evaluation team was commissioned to undertake a review of the Waka Hourua Community Fund. The focus of this specific review therefore was to assess and to determine how the Rauawaawa Kaumātua Charitable Trust programme implementation aligns to the overall intent, and design of the Waka Hourua programme and what actually happened during its implementation (how much, how well, and is anybody better off).

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