IHC

New strategy to strengthen cultural opportunities

December 1, 2021

A new Māori strategy is giving IDEA Services staff the confidence to explore cultural opportunities with the people we support.

Te Rautaki-Urupare Māori O IDEA Services 2020–2022 has been developed to increase the cultural capabilities of staff and improve the lives of Māori supported by IDEA Services.

Fun send-off for a tough year

December 1, 2021

It has been another tough year of lockdowns. And that came as a real blow to those of us who had hoped the worst was behind us in 2020.

At the start of November, with Auckland still in lockdown, the idea was born to run some online sessions in the lead-up to Christmas so that people could connect, try something new and have some fun.

‘Let’s give it a go’, was launched very quickly says Janine Stewart, General Manager IHC Programmes.

“We had been running some sessions for young families and thought we could extend them out to adults too.”

The right time to make a change

December 1, 2021

It’s hard to innovate in the middle of a pandemic.

But it might also be exactly the right time to rethink how the lives of people we support can be more creative, be more fulfilling and have more freedom.

The North Otago town of Oamaru has two IDEA Services day bases. One is located at Severn Street, just off State Highway 1, the main road through town. The other is 500 metres away at Ribble Street on the other side of the highway.

Find your ‘bubble inside a bubble’

December 1, 2021

Families shut inside in Auckland and Northland have had some online relief during their extended COVID-19 lockdown, with Auckland-based music therapist Ahjay Stelino taking his sounds and skills directly to families with disabled children.

Places in my mind, places of the heart

December 1, 2021

Two teenage high-school students have taken top prizes in the IHC Art Awards 2021 with works that give voice to their deepest feelings.

Danni-Lee Kokiri, 18, from Lower Hutt, won first place in the IHC Art Awards for 2021 and a $5000 prize for her mystical painting The Chakra Forest. Interviewed after her win, the Taita College student said the trees made her want to fly over them.