Background
Whānau Pakari (WP) created in 2012, is a community-based, family-centred assessment and intervention programme for 4-16 year olds (inclusive) wanting to overcome weight issues. It uses a team of health professionals to support the child and whanau and evolved from a need to create a weight issue intervention service for children and adolescents in Taranaki.
Aim
To establish the number of neuro-divergent children referred to WP or awaiting a neurodivergent diagnosis and the outcome of their journey with WP. (1)
Methods
An audit of the WP Database from 1.01.2021 – 15.5.2024 looked at all patients referred to WP, using the patient information database -Concerto, to verify and provide supplementary information.
Information collected on patients with a confirmed neuro-divergent diagnosis (2), awaiting a neuro-divergent diagnosis, ethnicities, Body mass index and standard deviation scores (SDS) of neuro-divergent children, follow-up data from successful referrals and follow-up BMI and SDS of neuro-divergent children, referrers to WP and total referrals.
Results
Data from WP identified 310 patients that were seen between January 1st, 2021 and May 15th 2024. Two hundred and fifty one patients did not have a diagnosis of neuro-divergency. Fifty eight patients were confirmed to have a neuro-divergent diagnosis. This encompassed 19% of the total audited population. Ethnicity of referrals were 43% NZ European, 42% Maori, 6% Pacific Islander, 4.5% Asian and 3.2% other.(3) Referrals were submitted primarily from Paediatricians and Public health nurses. Followed by General practioners and patients themselves.
Key take-home messages/Discussion
WP is an ever-evolving service model for addressing tamariki and rangatahi weight issues within the Taranaki community. Future research on development giving consideration to the neuro-divergent population to offer affective support to those referred to the service.