(New Zealand Disability Strategy Objective 1: Encourage and educate for a non-disabling society)

Disabled people can take advantage of the opportunities available to them more readily when their communities provide a welcoming environment. This means communities are accepting of disabled people, not fearful; see them as individuals with much to offer, rather than hold stereotyped and negative views about them; and appreciate the barriers they may face.

Actions towards making communities accepting and responsive include:

• a collaborative initiative, led by the Waikato District Health Board’s Population Health Unit and Community Waikato, to identify and address barriers for kaumātua and disabled whānau in participating in activities on marae: the timeline for this will be determined with reference to communities’ needs (Ministry of Health)
• a number of initiatives under the Lu’i Ola project, to be completed by the end of March 2010 and evaluated by the end of June 2010: a community leadership fono; community media activity; and the release of a resource guide for use by Pacific church Ministers – the Church Engagement toolkit – to counter negative community attitudes to disability (funded by the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, the Ministry of Health and the Office for Disability Issues)
• the Ministry of Health’s contracting of Age Concern New Zealand to carry out health promotion activities to raise awareness of the health and wellbeing needs of older people, to promote respect, and to reduce discrimination against older people: the current contract ends 31 December 2009
• two projects to be undertaken under the Like Minds, Like Mine programme, to provide a better understanding of the barriers of stigma and discrimination and of their impact on mental health service users; a project to measure and monitor discrimination and social inclusion, and a mental health services user survey: to be completed in 2010 (Ministry of Health).