Christchurch has a significant migrant and refugee population. The ongoing earthquakes and their impacts have heightened the need to be able to connect and communicate with these groups.

In addition to programmes like Language Line, other interpreting services and help to access general practice, the PHO has taken the lead locally with refugee and Asian health plans. These cover projects breaking down language barriers and helping newly settled people from refugee and migrant backgrounds get connected and stay healthier. This year a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Interpreting Canterbury for the delivery of services, and two large group rounds focusing on migrant and refugee health were held for GP teams.

Partnership Health Canterbury's Migrant and Refugee programmes have achieved national recognition this year, winning a Human Rights Commission Diversity Award. Initiatives being recognised by the commission included the availability of face-to-face interpreting services for enrolled patients and general practice staff, cooking classes for new migrants and those from refugee backgrounds, and ensuring that public health and earthquake information are available in a wide range of languages. Some of the projects - like the six-week cooking course that teaches recent migrants about unfamiliar Western food and some of its hidden dangers, as well as healthy alternatives - aim to stem the increasing rates of chronic disease that occur with the acculturation process.

Other initiatives to make health information more accessible to people whose first language isn't English have been in the pipeline for some time, but have become more urgent since the earthquakes; in the event of an emergency, disaster or under enormous stress, most people will revert back to their native tongue - no matter how well they speak English.