Learning, Adapting and Strengthening Impact

Healthy Families NZ was established with a clear and ambitious purpose: to prevent chronic disease and improve health and wellbeing by changing the systems that shape our everyday lives.  

Rather than focusing on individual behaviour, we work to transform the environments, policies and norms that influence health and wellbeing where we live, learn, work and play. 

Across New Zealand, our location teams' partner with communities and local leaders to address the drivers of poor health.  

Addressing these challenges is no small task. They are complex and interconnected, shaped by decades of policy, practice, and inequity. Creating lasting change requires more than programmes or campaigns, it calls for coordinated systems change. 

This is the work of Healthy Families NZ.  

As a collective, we operate as one movement through locally embedded teams who understand the unique context of their communities. Recently, Managers from across our eleven location teams came together to reflect on the implementation of the initiative to date, using one of our simple but powerful disciplines: check, reflect, adapt.  

Managers shared insights, examined what is working well, identified opportunities to strengthen and most importantly, reflected on the core purpose to ensure the work continues to deliver meaningful impact for communities.

The conversations reinforced several themes: 

• systems change takes time, trust and strong relationships. 

• local leadership and iwi partnerships are critical to sustainable outcomes. 

• aligning with national strategies while responding to local context is a key strength of the model. 

• we have a skilled and deeply committed prevention workforce, continued investment in their development as practitioners of systems change is essential to sustaining impact. 

• the initiative is unique in that we function as one connected movement nationally, sharing learning, capability and momentum across regions rather than operating as isolated initiatives. 

This commitment to continuous improvement ensures we remain responsive, evidence-informed and strategically aligned with national health priorities. 

The challenges facing New Zealand demand coordinated, preventative solutions.  

By staying true to our kaupapa and disciplined in our approach, we continue to build momentum for a healthier, more equitable future. 

The work is ongoing and its long-term. The impact is generational. And together, the opportunity is significant.