Please note: As of 1 July 2025, the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science (PHF Science) is the new name for the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR). Articles and information published before this date may reference the organisation's former name.
How do we enable families/whānau to succeed to ensure that all New Zealand children fulfil their potential? What are the critical causal influences on positive outcomes for family/whānau, and are there connections between them? How do these critical influences differ for ‘family’ and ‘whānau’?
These are the questions we are seeking to address in a multi-year research project to ultimately produce a practical model to assess and shape engagement between services and ‘hard-to-reach’ populations in order to improve outcomes for families/whānau.
The research will develop a practical model to enable constructive engagement between services and hard-to-reach populations. That is, develop the necessary knowledge and tools to enable populations to connect to and uptake services. Engaging with the hard to reach is challenging and a dearth of practical models to support client-service engagement. A key challenge in developing a practical model is accounting for the complex ways in which the motivation, knowledge and resources held by families/whānau, service con
Research to improve the up-take of service by people considered hard to reach: Synthesis of findings and a practical guide for service information
05 Dec, 2017
This paper is a synthesis of findings from a three year research programme led by ESR, in collaboration with researchers from the universities of Canterbury and Victoria in Wellington, and Indigemo Limited. The project was funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. The topic was “engaging with the ‘hard to reach’ to improve uptake of social and health service”.
Making Services Reachable: Family Help Trust case study
01 Mar, 2015
The Family Help Trust (FHT) Case Study Report is part of the Making Services Reachable (MSR) research project. The project aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the barriers and enablers to social services engaging with ‘hard to reach’ populations. The purpose of the research is to develop practical models, knowledge and tools to improve the way services are designed and delivered to better facilitate engagement
Making Services Reachable: He Waka Tapu case study
01 Jan, 2016
In October 2013 The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) was successful along with their partners, Canterbury University, Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit and Mokowhiti consultancy2 in obtaining 3 years of research funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). The aim of the research is to develop a practical model or models to enable constructive engagement between services and hard-to-reach populations. That is, develop the necessary knowledge and tools to enable populations to connect to and uptake services.
Understanding the client-service engagement in social service provision: The Q-nique case study
01 Jan, 2016
The case study reported here is part of a larger study, Making Services Reachable (MSR), funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment [Contract C03X1301]. The full title of that study is: Using a service ecology approach to co-design and build improvements in service uptake and outcomes for families/whānau of ‘hard to reach’4 populations. The overall research question specified by the funder is: How do we enable families/whānau to succeed to ensure that all New Zealand children fulfil their potential? What are the critical causal influences on positive outcomes for family/whānau, and are there connections between them? How do these critical influences differ for ‘family’ and ‘whānau’? The undergirding principle of the research is that a determinant of wellbeing for families/whānau is their ability to engage effectively with service providers.