Occupational Therapist For Nga Taiohi Youth Forensic Unit

Location: Kenepuru Hospital / Porirua

Contract: Permanent / Full Time (1 FTE)

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is committed to building a health system that serves all New Zealanders.

About the Role

The Occupational Therapist’s role is to understand a person’s functional needs and provide brief but meaningful intervention as part of a multidisciplinary team, in line with Te Whare Tapa Wha. This involves engaging people in a variety of ways, considerate of culture, whanau and personal values.   

The role requires you to run an Occupational Therapy group program, as well as individual assessment and intervention with young people in a Youth Forensic Unit. This role will allow you to use and develop core Occupational Therapy skills, engaging young people in meaningful and purposeful activities. You will help facilitate community organisations to come into the ward to run programs as well as leading group activities yourself. 

Your role is to support young people to recover from an acute phase of mental illness and help them understand how they can stay well in the community. Linking young people with the supports and tools to sustain their recovery. 

About the Team/Service/ Location

Nga Taiohi is the national secure youth forensic purpose built 10 beds unit which will provide the inpatient service for youth offenders with a mental health and/or alcohol and other drug (AOD) issues. The secure youth forensic unit is co-located with the existing Youth Acute Inpatient Mental Health Inpatient Unit (Rangatahi) and the Youth Intellectual Disability (ID) Inpatient Unit (Hikitia Te Wairua) in the Centre of Excellence at Kenepuru Hospital.

Moū – About you

This Occupational Therapy role requires someone who has excellent communication skills and is able to work as part of a fast-paced clinical team. You will need to be flexible and willing to adapt to the regularly changing environment of a Youth Forensic Unit. You will have good risk management and organisational skills.  You will have initiative and creativity to add your own unique approach to the service.  You will be reliable and considerate of others. You will be responsible to ensure a timetable of activities occur on the ward, either by running these yourself or by facilitating others. 

You will value Māori and Pacifica culture and be skilled at engaging young to ensure that each rangatahi receives the best health outcomes. You will have a good knowledge of Te Whare Tapa Wha and meaningfully adopt the agreement of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ideally you will have some knowledge the Meihana model, and if not you will be willing to learn.

You will be able to assess a person’s functioning, provide intervention and make recommendations based on what you have observed. 

This role is challenging but satisfying, you will make meaningful changes in people’s lives.

You must be:

• NZ Registered Occupational Therapist with current annual practicing certificate.
• Member of Occupational Therapy New Zealand - Professional Association (desirable).
• Have a full drivers licence.

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities. 

How to Apply

To apply please click “apply now.”  All applications must be submitted through our online careers’ portal by 27th April. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Marianne.Lovgren@Tewhatuora.govt.nz

We will review applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process, before the closing date of this advert.