Purpose
Background
Georgraphy
Enrolment at Harbour Health
Population Trends
Harbour Health Population Profile
Purpose
The purpose of this report is to:
-
Understand the unique characteristics of the population enrolled with Harbour Health in order to ensure future service planning is based upon accurate information.
-
Influence priorities and utilization of the current resources.
-
Re–orient health services to improve overall health and positively reduce health inequalities in the community.
This report will describe the demography of the enrolled population and compares it with that of the relevant Waitemata District population and New Zealand in terms of:
-
Geographical location and population distribution
-
Socio - Economic Status (SES)
-
Ethnicity and migration trends
-
Age structure
Sources of data collection includes:
-
Quarterly Primary Health data practices affliated by Harbour Health
-
Census data from statistics New Zealand
-
North Shore City Council
-
Rodney District Council
-
Existing community groups within the region
Back to top
Background
Harbour Health is one of six Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) located in Waitamata District Health Board (WDHB) district. Waitemata DHB is one of 21 DHBs in New Zealand and one of three main DHBs in the greater Auckland region. Waitemata DHB encompasses North Shore City, Rodney District and Waitakere City with a total population of 493,200 (2005 census), ie 36.9% of the total Auckland population; and 3.69% of the total New Zealand Population.
Click here to download a Summary of Demographics (pdf format)
Back to top
Geography
Harbour Health is located in the North Harbour region of North Shore City, which is in the northern part of Auckland region. It serves populations both in rural and urban locations, ie Rodney District and North Shore City respectively. The population has a wide range of service needs. That means that different approaches have to be used in terms of service development and planning while also trying to address service provision, availability, affordability and accessibility. People living in or near the urban areas could have better provision of these services compared to those found in rural areas. Disparities are also variable according to social and economic status of the communities, ages, sexes and ethnicities.
Continued migration into New Zealand has resulted in a general increase in the population with the main increase being felt in regions close to Auckland city, this includes North Shore City and Rodney District. Changes of the demographic profile for the population enrolled with Harbour Health have also been affected by migration. This has resulted in a rapid and dynamically changing population enrolled with Harbour Health. which means that the health needs of the enrolled population, disease prevalence, service provision and utilization is changing.
Back to top
Enrolment at Harbour Health
The majority of patients enrolled with Harbour Health are from Rodney District and North Shore City, however, a small percentage are from other regions. For the purposes of this report the comparison will be between populations living within North Shore City and Rodney District.
Rodney District
Rodney District is the largest of the seven districts in the Auckland region and has the fifth largest population, but with the most widely distributed population due to its large geographical size. Rodney District compared to other rural regions is unique because of its close proximity to Auckland.
North Shore City
North Shore City is the fourth largest city in New Zealand (after Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch). It is more densely populated due to its smaller geographical size and large population compared to Rodney District. The majority of the population is concentrated around the old business regions. It is largely urban with a large industrial area.
Back to top
Population Trends
At a National Level
Since 1982, the New Zealand population has been changing rapidly. Between1998–2000 there was a rapid population drop due to mass emigration of the population leaving New Zealand which then stabilised. This was followed by a rapid rise from 2000 due to increased migration into New Zealand. The natural birth rate has remained almost constant throughout this period. That means that the rapid population rise was because of people coming into New Zealand not necessarily born here. This population rise has been most significant in Auckland and the adjacent regions which also include North Shore City, Rodney District, and Waitekere City.
At a Regional Level
At the regional level the population has been increasing steadily from 2001. The population had risen in North Shore City from 194,200 in 2001 to 212,200 in 2005, a 9.3% rise and in Rodney an increase from 78,500 in 2001 to 89,200 in 2005 a 13.6% rise.
Rodney District has experienced a population rise of 15.8% population since 2001, therefore becoming the fourth most populous district in New Zealand (Rodney District Council) and one of the fastest growing regions apart from Queenstown and Tauranga.
Back to top
Harbour Health Population Profile
Harbour Health has the largest enrolled population among the six PHOs in the WDHB district. It has a total enrolled population of 148,934 (April 2007).
Harbour Health Enrolled population’s geographical location
Populations accessing services come from a wide area of Auckland (South, Central, Western and Northern Auckland). This could be because some of the people accessing these services work in the North Shore or Rodney District area but live in another region.
Age and Gender
Rodney district has a high adult population with 14.9% of the population 65 years and over, compared to 12.1% for New Zealand. 22.7% of the population is below 15 years.
North Shore City also has a high adult population with a significant population between the ages of 25 – 44 years (83, 247) and a significant population 65 years and above (20,172)
- 0 - 15 years = 20.7%, compared to the average population mix of 17.1% for North Shore City and 22.2% for Rodney District.
- 16 – 24 years = 13.0%, compared to the average population mix of 17.2% for North Shore City and 9.9% for Rodney District.
- 25 – 64 years = 43%, compared to the average population mix of 56.6% for North Shore City and 51.6% for Rodney District.
- 65 years and above = 11.8%, compared to 9.03% for North Shore City and 16.3% for Rodney District.
43% of the population are male and 56% of the population are female. There is a variable mix of age groups accessing its services.
Ethnicities
The ethnic population of Harbour Health is highly multicultural; that is over 116 ethnic groups are enrolled. The ethnic groups are grouped into six main groups: Maori, Pacific island, European, Asian, Other and those with no stated ethnicity. Those with more than one ethnic group are either classified according to their dominant ethnic group or under the ethnic group other. However the majority of the migrant groups have very small numbers and therefore classified under the ethnic group other.
The Maori population enrolled with Harbour Health is 2.7% compared with 7.2% of Maori living within Rodney District and, 6.5% in North Shore City and 14.1% for the whole of New Zealand.
The Pacific Island population enrolled with Harbour Health is small compared to that of its population found in other parts of New Zealand. Only 1.4% of the Pacific Island community are enrolled with Harbour Health which is a reflection of the small Pacific Island population found within relevant Waitemata regions, ie 1.3% living in Rodney District and 3.2% in North Shore City, compared to 6.2% for the whole of New Zealand.
The largest ethnic group enrolled with Harbour Health is European (75.7%). This is because the largest ethnic group found within relevant Waitemata regions is European: 84.5% in Rodney District, 73.3% in North Shore City and 76.8% in the whole of New Zealand.
This is followed by the Asian population; 9.4% for Harbour Health compared to 2.14% for Rodney District, 12.3% for North Shore City and 6.4% for the whole of New Zealand.
These figures indicate that there are interesting opportunities that present themselves for future development with how Harbour Health works with the enrolled population. Especially, with Maori as the indigenous people and also with the Pacific and Asian populations. Taken together with the “Other” and “Non-stated” ethnicity, the overall picture suggests an opportunity for further understanding of how we may develop our ability to work with cultural diversity generally. The aim of this would be to improve the quality of our responsiveness to everyone and particularly those members of our enrolled population.
Socio - Economic Status (SES)
Despite of the fact that North Shore City and Rodney District are known to serve a population in the higher social and economic groups, there is a significant population in the lower SES scales.
The SES is defined as a quintile level. A quintile level measures the relative deprivation of the population being discussed relative to that of the rest of New Zealand. Those classified as having a high quintile level (4 and 5) are those with increased relative deprivation or of low SES. Those classified as having a low quintile level (1, 2 and 3) are those with reduced relative deprivation or with a higher SES. Quintile levels are variable and also reflected by employment rates, income and communication.
Harbour Health serves populations known to be residing in regions with high SES (ie North Shore City and Rodney District, that is 81.52% of the population accessing services at practices affiliated to Harbour Health are classified as quintile levels 1, 2 and 3 (higher SES). While a significant 8.96% (13,225 people) are classified in the higher quintile levels 4 and 5 (or of low SES).
The majority of those within the highest quintile levels (or low SES) are Maori, Pacific Island groups and new migrants (including refugees). This is consistent with the national findings that also identify Maori, Pacific Island and New Migrants (esp. refugees) as those with the highest representation in the Lower Social and Economic groups (or highest quintile levels).
Employment
36% of the Rodney District population is employed. Due to its rural nature a significant portion of the population 8.9% is employed in the agricultural industry compared to 2.4% for the whole of Auckland. Significantly high percentages of the Rodney District population are employed in the trade and agricultural occupations. Technical and professional fields are higher in rural areas accessible to Auckland and Hibiscus Coast.
The most popular occupation for Maori in North Shore City is service and sales which is similar to that of the whole of New Zealand.
A significantly high number of the population in North Shore City are employed in the professional fields compared to Rodney District.
Places of work
• Just over 50% of people in Rodney District work in areas out of Rodney.
• 13.9% people work on the farms or at home in Rodney District and 40 – 50% of the
population work at home.
• The majority of those living in North Shore City either work in Auckland or the shore itself
Unemployment
• Unemployment rates for the Maori in 2001 in the North Shore were 10.6% compared to
16.8% for the whole of New Zealand.
• The unemployment rates in some regions exceed that of the national average.
Back to top
Census Statistics
North Shore City
Rodney District
Auckland Region
