People Like You - Elisapeta

Community Health Worker

For ten years I worked as a passport and citizenship officer. When my workplace went through restructuring, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to change jobs.

I became a community health worker at Otara Health to help people improve their health and well being.

When I applied for the role, I had no qualifications in community health work. Because of family commitments, I couldn’t study full-time. I couldn’t afford the fees either. With support and financial help from Otara Health and CMDHB, I completed the Certificate in Community Health Work at Manukau Institute of Technology. Now I’m using what I learnt from the course to serve the Otara community.

A lot of the people who live in Otara are Pacific like me. This gives me a good understanding of Pacific peoples’ health issues and things that affect their health. I think a good understanding of the situations in which people live, goes a long way in this job. So does listening and communicating well.

The heart of what I do is educating and motivating people to lead more healthy and independent lives. This may involve helping them access community services they need. Our community needs more people to support them in this way. You can be one of them.

Elisapeta
Community Health Worker at Otara Health Inc.

For more information contact:

Gay Chapman
Certificate in Community Health Work
Manukau Institute of Technology
Phone: 09 968 8765 ext 8319

Lau Lemalu Auala
Certificate in Pacific Community Health Work
Manukau Institute of Technology
Phone: 09 968 8765 ext 8316