Baseline Study of the Disability Support System in the MidCentral Area: Disabled Peoples Report

In October 2018 the Government launched system transformation in MidCentral Region. This was a process that changed the way disabled people and their whānau received funding from the Government and represented an attempt to bring support in line with Enabling Good Lives (EGL) principles. The new funding body in MidCentral Region was called Mana Whaikaha.
Prior to the implementation of the transformed system the Ministry of Health commissioned SAMS (Standards and Monitoring Services) to conduct a baseline survey of both disabled people and their family and whānau. A repeat study was undertaken in 2021 three years after the implementation of the new system and is the subject of separate reports.
Experienced interviewers in the disability sector interviewed 172 disabled people and 152 whānau. This report represents the disabled peoples report. All disabled people, or their proxies, had face-to-face interviews that involved both qualitative (long answer) and quantitative (likert scale) responses. The report provides a wide range of data involving areas such as perceptions of the quality of support already provided, personal life experiences such as work and leisure time activities and quality of life.