mwongihiwehi

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 6.2

In New Zealand, oral health is a neglected health policy issue. Through my posters I wanted to show and highlight the inequalities surrounding oral health in New Zealand and the huge barrier cost has made depriving many New Zealanders the ability to access dental care services. My first poster uses pastiche and is inspired by 1950s advertising. Layering within my poster is used to create a sense of depth and movement which is emphasised through diagonal lines. Cost is shown through the use of price tags which show the prices of dental treatments in New Zealand.Use of scale with the rotten smile is to accentuate how large of an issue oral health is in the country and the need for it to be properly addressed. My second poster takes a much different approach, wherein my first poster the lines are quite clean and soft, contrastingly in this second concept, the imperfection of the smile can be seen through the roughness and looseness of the illustration which is then balanced by a clean san-serif font. This concept uses juxtaposition and metaphor, using teeth with cavities as eyes and scissors as a nose to show a tired and uncomfortable bloody smile. With this concept, I wanted to illustrate how not being able to get access to dental care can be very detrimental to a person's wider health.

Throughout Ihi Wehi I was really challenged with the way I work and think. One of the most difficult aspects for me was having to create all these posters in such a short amount of time. During the first couple of weeks especially I struggled to think of ideas and get the key messages I wanted to show in my posters to come through. I found that the exercises we did in class were really useful and encouraged me to think of new ways of conveying my topic as well as helping me better understand the importance of rapid ideation. Rapid ideation is something I would like to continually work on, I think it's a very good way of working as it helps you to explore widely quite quickly before settling on an idea. Another challenge I faced during this project was trying to execute my ideas. My automatic response is to make whatever I need to make on Illustrator just because it’s what I know how to use best. However, during Ihi Wehi I began to understand that Illustrator was limiting me. I felt the need to create my posters digitally but was reminded that my work didn’t have to be perfectly rendered on Photoshop or Illustrator that they can be quick messy sketches or thumbnails which can be just as effective in conveying the same message. I really enjoyed this part of the process and being able to experiment using a range of tools and mediums to create.

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 6.1

move tags to bottom remove away from mouth 

change colour of header + move

move call to action

maybe change circle to star + move

more movement for body copy price tag.

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 5.2

Interim 2

Concept 1

Concept 2 

Feedback From Interim 2 Presentation:

The scale of the second posters makes it “pop” more than the first.

Play with font and position of body text for the second poster (maybe inside the price tags).

Maybe make the blood redder.

Typeface of the second poster gives off the dentist feel.

Labels could be bigger on the second poster.

Love the second idea

Both are quite similar stylistically, you could try using a real photo for the second idea.

Feedback from Lee

Make the holes in teeth look more like eyes 

Posters are quite similar - both vector illustrations

Could make more different play with textures etc

Work on the positioning of the text.

“A Smile Costs Nothing

Tested using a combination of gradients, grain and different blending mode to add more texture to my second poster. It kept making my laptop freeze and wasn't working how I wanted. Will trying making my posters making my posters more different in another way

Playing around trying to make my two posters different from each other - tested playing with the different strokes etc on illustrator don't really like how it turned out:

Using Ink:

Spray Paint - I ran out so it didn’t work.

Using Markers:

Ink Drawing Scanned:

Decided to just draw it on photoshop

Trying out different compositions and how I could possibly make certain parts of the composition stand out:

For this poster I want it to have a very more loose and messy style to the other one which is quite clean with more perfect lines and shapes.

Using the scissors as a nose and using a blackline to make certain parts of the poster stand out.

Added Red to the scissors wanted to give the feeling that these two teeth with cavities have just been newly pulled out. With the cavities, I hope that these two look more like eyes now than my previous iterations of this concept. I decided to make the teeth white to make it more obvious that they’ve pulled out teeth, now they like bags under a person's eyes I hope that this way the face although smiling that the smile is not a completely happy one

Give the type a more handwritten and loose feel by hand drawing it:

I don’t think it works it feels like too much I need to balance the illustration with a more clean font.

Still trying to figure out where to put my text, I’m not really sure where I should put it.

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 5.1

After talking with Lee and Jackie had an idea of playing with a mask and fake smile, this concept was based on a popular reaction meme at the moment:

After looking at this idea for a concept again, It doesn’t really make sense or really shows anything about money being a factor that stops people from being able to access dental care. Jackie and Lee suggested that try something with a smile and making it like an infographic showing the different prices of dental costs in New Zealand and combining aspects of this new idea with the idea I made last class with the prices tags.

Made smile in illustrator:

With this poster, I was inspired by the work of Barcelona based illustrator Mariano Pascual, his work is very playful, creating these new realities and spaces through the combination of different shapes. Pascual’s pieces are quite flat??? yet he creates these compositions are interesting to look at due to his use of layering and scale creating movement and a sense of depth that holds the viewer's attention and to look further into the pieces.

In a lot of Pascual’s work, he uses quite desaturated and he also uses these sparkles. In this poster, I wanted to almost try pay reference to him by using creating a sparkle in my own style and also by using desaturated colours I feel like both these things really fit the style I'm going for with mixing this with ideas from old advertising ads that I have previously looked at.

Inspiration: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nycVlNe9Yeg ( want to try show this same ridiculousness as this ad) why is having no teeth funny to us?

I don’t want to give the smile a face because giving it a face is giving it an identity I think its important to have it not on a face so the your attention is just on the smile. A face shows a-lot of emotion but I think that that emotion can also just be shown through a smile. You can read a lot about a person about just by the way they smile or move their mouth...

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 4.2

Looked at old advertising and comics mostly from the 50s and 60s 

This poster is a pastiche of a 50s comic ad advertising for Air Jordan 1 It uses a very simple colour palette just using red, yellow, white and black. Red is the most dominant colour in this poster and the way the person who made this poster placed the red in this composition guides the viewer's eyes through it. The way the “Retro Chicago” is in italics and also on an angle gives the posters creates a sense of movement and depth in the poster. By highlighting the shoes with the white star bubble highlights the product and really makes it stand out, also through the use of scale.

Could have desaturated colours in my posters to create the idea that it is a pastiche. Use of lines especially diagonal lines make these flat illustrations more interesting For the little Audrey it not only creates depth in the room but also used to show that there is sound coming from the trumpet which is being blown by the vacuum.

Repetition creates depth and movement. It is also used in the text with the repetition of the word “New” -- emphasis. People will want to buy this product because its the newest thing. This ad is interesting to look and the text matches the illustration with “wacky” and “crazy” “ fun”.

“Grand Smile” choice of words and the illustration of the man with a big fake smile might convince people to buy this product. Use of Cooper typeface.

Similar to the other posters using horizontal lines to create depth and movement.

Words like luscious, tempting, appealing to refer to the tootsie roll and the woman which takes up most of the space on the poster.

Uses the star cloud (not really sure what its called) but this creates excitement and the text inside it to pop out.

Wanted to use dentures to show the idea of a fake smile, real teeth and smile are being masked by the dentures. In my posters incorporated star bubble want to create a parody of old ads to advertise a smile. A lot of the time in those ads they are showing products are quite cheap and they really try to emphasise that whatever they're trying to sell is very affordable however in my poster I want to use that style but instead of showing that the cost of a smile is cheap that it is  really expensive and not very affordable.

Dentures on a plate - could maybe show the idea of having access to dental services is a luxury that few can afford, as though you're at a very expensive restaurant. 

How to show luxury?? 

Could play with the previous idea of a menu showing the costs of dental services in New Zealand.

Using Diagonal lines to create movement. With this poster, I really tried to focus on taking up the whole space rather than there being a lot of empty space. I also use the star cloud and used the cooper typeface in help to give that 50′s/60s ad style.

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 4.1

Going to develop the idea with the bloody smile.

Need to change the wording of the poster, not “what’s the cost of a smile?”

How can I better show that cost what stops people from being able to access dental services in New Zealand?

Development of poster from the interim. Based on the feedback I received last week I:

Cropped it in more, already I can see how this makes a significant difference to the one I submitted for the first interim. There wasn’t a need for all that empty space.

I changed the heading of the poster from “what's the cost of a smile?” to “there are some who can’t afford to smile”

It wasn’t that obvious to a lot of people that it was a smile so I made I tried to make the smile more obvious with this iteration of the idea. 

Made the eyes into teeth.

Going to print these images of different smiles and rip them up in a collage I want to try also developing that other idea that I submitted for the interim with the halftone texture. Over the top of the collage, I want to put price tags on it digitally made in illustrator and from each of the teeth I want to show the different prices of dental services in New Zealand.

Tooth made out of arms and legs playing the idiom “costs an arm and leg” which is used to describe anything that is considered to be extremely expensive of excessive prices.

Wallet with teeth marks in it so all the money comes out, could make it like a wild animal, exaggerate the teeth marks that have slashed into the wallet - dentistry in New Zealand can really hurt a person’s wallet.

Dentures with a price tag

Menu with dental costs on it - make it like the menu of a fancy restaurant - take the piss.

Smile but on each tooth has the price of the dental services it is related to. e.g molar filling = however many dollars 

Pastiche or parody of old 50s and 60s advertising.

Sad smile in the mirror but the person is hidden behind the fog of glass - people with bad smiles are ignored not able to fully participate in society. Limits them from jobs and also affects wider health...

A pastiche of these old posters?? I really like the aesthetic of them but make it looks more fancy and luxurious and exclusive to show that dental care in New Zealand is something only people with money can afford like not all people can go eat at a very expensive restaurant.

(COME BACK TO THIS IDEA LATER)

Tested using the gradient tool in illustrator using the freeform gradient and the gradient map to create more depth to my vector illustrations.

Do ducks have lots of teeth???

When people pick flowers they most often choose the perfect one and not the flower that is damaged similarly in life they will often choose the person who has a good smile over someone who has poor oral health.

Price Tag

I want this concept to be quite creepy and create an uncomfortable feeling for the viewer, playing with the idea of the “murder house” the fact that oral health in New Zealand is such a big issue, with 44% of adults in NZ struggling to get access is a really scary thing.

More Developinggg: 

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 3.2

Interim 1

Concept 1

Concept 2

Concept 3

Concept 4

Feedback from Interim 1:

Colour use in Concept 1 works well

The edited image with the yellow stands ou putting the text over the eyes hides identity as focuses the importance over of the teeth.

Central Issue is easy to identify - heading and image communicate well

Yellow teeth concept is the strongest the yellow teeth are strong because it's how NZ smiles look.

The concept that has the most potential is the yellow (no one wants yellow teeth)

Poster 1 is cool, up the scale and change the colour scheme to pop a bit more - could be super successful

Poster 3 makes the most sense of image and text.

Poster 3 could be more gruesome.

Poster 2 - maybe have the green pop out more imagery is good, good balance between metaphorical and literal.

#-

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 3.1

Gaps in the system

Murder House concept 

Play with scale show the person as being very small staring up at the ‘murder house’

why is it scary?? the price? how to show that oral health is expensive?

Pastiche of 50s/60s comics 

Inspiration

illustrations are fun, they're not really scary. I illustrations make it feel as though that t 

Poor oral health can lead to things such as heart disease and brain disease.

gum in wrapper except its a brain - want to show relationship between poor oral health and brain disease.

Trying to create a candy wrapper in photoshop

Attempted to make foil texture to put on wrapper texture 

This test failed. I don’t know how to do it.

Using shapes and gradient tool to try and make toothpaste.

More tests - I found that trying to make the appearance of toothpaste works better in photoshop using sampling and the mixer brush.

Idea from a thumbnail sketch - what if lying down on the dentist chair is similar to lying in a coffin - could use this to show that poor oral health kind increase chances of getting very harmful diseases > death

Dentist Equipment made in illustrator.

Had this picture saved on my phone, its quite funny?  I don't know where I got it from. Kinda interesting what if I had a bloody smile on the dentist tray as if someone just had their teeth pulled out.

Drawing Tubes of toothpaste - 1st one done in illustrator, second one drawn in photoshop... experimenting with different styles. 

Had this idea of putting money on the toothbrush instead of toothpaste - you use toothpaste to look after your teeth but looking after your teeth costs money.

1 in 3 New Zealanders have untreated tooth decay - tried showing this idea through the three toothbrushes and where one of them is separated from the other two, wanted to show that gap and inequality of oral health in NZ.

Playing with the Halftone effect that I learned in the lab last week.

Week 3 Lab Exercise

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 2.2

Rhetoric: The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech other compositional techniques

Oragun

Uses juxtaposition combining the silhouette of a child and the target - This poster is a commentary on school shootings. 

The Death Penalty Mocks Justice

 A commentary on the death penalty in the US, this poster pokes fun at it

The Skull is used as a metaphor and symbol for death

Uses subversion with the US flag replacing the tongue. 

Same Power Different Attitude 

Parody of the sound of music and Star Wars 

Could say that it is a juxtaposition of characters? Darth Vader and Maria are two characters who are very different from each other.

Greeting from Mt Eden

 Pastiche on greeting cards you might get whilst on vacation.

About Mt Eden Prison - as if going to prison is like being on holiday.

Use of subversion using photographs in the letters.

What I submitted for today's poster. I didn’t really know what text to add for it so I didn’t end up putting any on. We often associate the tooth fairy as being someone who gives you money when you loose teeth. In this poster, I wanted to show the tooth fairy as a robber who steals your money when you loose teeth. Even getting a single tooth out can cost you greatly.

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 2.1

Daily Exercise: Random Input - Proverb Pull Out The Red Carpet:

Pull out the red carpet? I feel as though it is hard to not be literal with it?

You roll out the red carpet for someone who is famous or of importance special welcome, they are treated as an honoured guest.

To Elaborate hospitality, ceremony or fanfare

Red could be blood

Roll out, unwind

Everyone is looking at you when you’re on the red carpet instead could be looking at you because you have a nice smile/bad smile. What’s Good For the Goose is Good for the Gander:

What is good for a man is equally good for a woman/ or, what a man can have or do, so can a woman have or do.

Equality

People regardless of wealth or social status should have access to good dental care.

What is good the rich is also good those who are poor.

An idiom that is often used to say that one person or situation should be the same way that another person or situation is treated.

Poster that I submitted for todays exercise. It’s not very good and I don’t think if a person saw this they would get that it’s about oral health inequalities. I wanted to show that red carpet type smile except its not. The text I used should’ve been more related to my topic also the way I composed could’ve been better. I wanted to show the smile in isolation so that all attention is put on it as it is the most important thing. I made this on photoshop. I really need to practice using it more because at the moments using it to draw is very unfamiliar to me and it really shows. I also tried making a sparkle brush to add to the idea of that “shiny” smile.

Exercise from lab this week - looking at halftone

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 1.2

Inequality In New Zealand 

Health Inequalities In New Zealand 

Social and Economic Determinants of Health

Oral Health Research

Jones, Nicholas. Time for Free Dental Care? The Huge Expense of Going to the Dentist | Health Central. 4 Mar. 2019, https://healthcentral.nz/time-for-free-dental-care-the-huge-expense-of-going-to-the-dentist/.

Desperate Kiwis are queuing at hospital pain clinics because they can’t afford the dentist - and health bosses are not backing free dental care.

“Waitemata District Health Board wants a “comprehensive dental service for all New Zealanders”, its chief executive confirmed

The position comes amidst growing concern among health workers about people who can’t afford hefty dentist’ bills and live in chronic pain as a result, with some resorting to gruesome “DIY dentistry”.

There are long queues at hospital pain clinics for temporary fillings for teeth extractions, people turning up at emergency departments because of dental pain.

Members discussed whether the health boards should call on the government to provide subsidised or free dentistry.

Waitemata DHB chief executive, Dr dale Bramley, told the meeting the Ministry of Health was “already considering how the dental service could be included in the public health service, and that the DHB boards should support”.

A resolution was passed by the committee recommending the DHBs “support comprehensive dental care access for all New Zealanders as part of the public health system”

Grant Pollard, the ministry’s group manager for population health, denied any current work on possible changes to publicly-funded dental care.

Any more to provide more subsidised or free dental care would carry a huge cost. Currently, about $198 million a year is spent on oral health services, with most covering universal services for children and teenagers.

Kiwis without enough money live in chronic pain that affects work, quality of life and mental and wider health

Gum disease increases the risk of heart disease, and poor oral health increases the chances of bacterial infection in the bloodstream

Adults must pay the full cost, and bills can run into thousands of dollars.

Hamilton dentist Dr Assil Russell launched a petition for subsidy for dental care for at-need people and an increase in the age for free dental care to 20 years.

Russell’s charity Receive a Smile has treated almost 10,000 patients free of charge, including those with bad infections, and broken and rotting teeth.

Currently, Government-funded dental work for adults is limited to emergency care for pain and infection relief, and work and income grants for those on a low income and who are in serious pain and need urgent treatment. Dental care is also given to a small number of hospital inpatient and work needed after accidents are funded by ACC.

The NZ Dental Association wants more subsidised care for people on low incomes - but not universal access saying such a step would likely cost more than the annual budget of large DHBs

Helen Clark tweeted Jacinda Ardern, Winston Peters and Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni: “Time for a major government initiative on the right to dental care. NZ makes hospital care free - why not a right to dental care?’

The cost of dental work:

Examination only: $76

Single tooth extraction $229

Each additional tooth taken: $138

Root Filling $735

One surface filling $153

Composi te crown $408

Hygienist - half hourly rate: $110

Full upper and lower dentures $2557 (the average fee charged by NZ Dental Association members, according to the association’s 2018 fee survey)

Broadbent, Jonathan. High Cost Means More than Half of NZ’s Young Adults Don’t Access Dental Care | Health Central. 30 May 2019, https://healthcentral.nz/high-cost-means-more-than-half-of-nzs-young-adults-dont-access-dental-care/.

In New Zealand wealth determines dental health 

Inequalities in untreated tooth decay are wider in New Zealand than in Australia, Canada or the United States.

The latest NZ Health Survey run annually by the MOH reported that cost prevents an estimated 15 per cent of NZ adults (just over half million) from seeing a GP about a medical problem and nearly 7 per cent (around a quarter million) from filling a prescription. For dentistry, cost stopped 44 per cent of adults (around 1.6 million) from accessing care. In the young adult age group, this was over half the population.

Adult dental health care is a neglected health policy issue

The risk for dental problems is determined in early childhood and can be intergenerational 

Those born into disadvantaged families go on to have greater rates of tooth decay as adults.

Young adulthood is when incomes are often at their lowest but untreated dental decay is at its highest

Conventional wisdom has it that the best approach to reducing inequalities is to educate the public but that doesn't work. To address social inequalities we need to address the underlying structural issues and ensure timely access to quality dental care

In dentistry inequalities in the delivery of dental care services are greater than inequalities in the disease itself.

The government spends around NZ$16 billion annually on health and spends around a quarter of a billion dollars a year on dental care.

NZ’s dental care system demonstrates why we can’t rely on market forces to equitably distribute population health services. The cost of introducing universal coverage for dental care would be high but doesn't mean the idea should not be considered or variation of it.

Prevention - it isn't just about brushing teeth and water fluoridation. NZ needs to increase spend on preventative dental care to save on the high cost of dental interventions.

Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity have many of the same causes as dental disease. Stricter limits on the marketing and sale of sugary drinks and lollies, better regulation of “hidden sugars” and continued efforts for tobacco control would have benefits beyond dental health.

Dentistry is poorly integrated with other areas of health care. Neither is it funded like other areas of health care.

Dental surgery is expensive just like any other form of surgery. Accessible dental care can’t happen without funding.

First steps towards the goal that all New Zealanders are able to access affordable dental care should be population-level prevention and ensuring that disadvantaged groups can access emergency dental care.

Central, Health. Dental Therapists: We Can Help Improve Access to Dental Care. 28 Jan. 2019, https://healthcentral.nz/dental-therapists-we-can-help-improve-access-to-dental-care.

Dental therapists are keen to see access to dental care improved for low income and older New Zealanders 

The Association says that countries like Australia are “miles ahead” in terms of utilising the extended skills of dental and oral health therapists.

“We as a profession are ready to train further and ensure the most vulnerable receive equitable access. There is no shortage of dental and oral health therapy graduates in New Zealand and if we are to retain these graduates in our country then they need to be provided with the opportunity to extend their respective scopes. It’s a win-win for the professions and for the country.”

Norris, Pauline. ‘Gaps in the System’. Otago Daily Times Online News, 11 May 2020, https://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/gaps-system

Gaps in the system

There are some who can't afford to smile

Dental care for adults, however, has never really been part of this system. Dental care is provided free to children. 

the "murder house" where a woman in a starched uniform drilled and filled our teeth without anaesthetic

In the latest, NZ Health Survey around half of the people surveyed (53%) said they only went to the dentist for problems or did not go at all. Maori, Pacific people, those on low incomes and people with mental health problems often miss out on dental care. People in rural areas without dentists also struggle. Late last year I was in a rural healthcare centre a couple of hours north of Gisborne when a young woman with severe dental pain turned up. She had managed to get an appointment with a dentist in Gisborne but had no transport so couldn’t get to the appointment

In a recent paper in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, John Broughton and his colleagues wrote about the dental health of Maori with mental health problems. They interviewed 32 people and asked about their oral health and its impact on their lives, using a standard questionnaire that has been used in many studies. People reported that their oral health was causing them psychological and physical pain and disability and affecting their social interactions.

…. Not surprisingly, getting all this necessary dental work done had a big impact on participants. They experienced lower levels of pain, discomfort, and disability, and it is likely that the treatment led to increased mental as well as physical health.

The study makes clear that there is a very large burden of serious untreated dental problems in the community, and suggests that people with mental health problems should be a priority group for receiving dental care. The authors point out that Maori ways of thinking about health stress the connections between physical, mental, family and spiritual health. In this case, it is really clear that poor physical health, like not having many (or any) teeth, or having pain or infection from bad teeth, are likely to lead to other health and social problems.

Jones, Nicholas. Give All Kiwis ‘comprehensive and Affordable’ Dental Care: New Zealand Medical Association . 6 Mar. 2019, https://healthcentral.nz/give-all-kiwis-comprehensive-and-affordable-dental-care-new-zealand-medical-association/.

About one in three New Zealanders have untreated tooth decay, the last comprehensive oral health survey in 2009 found. Almost half of adults had avoided routine dental treatment in the previous year, because of cost.

All New Zealanders should have access to a “comprehensive and affordable” dental service, the New Zealand Medical Association says.

“comprehensive dental service for all New Zealanders”

Association chairwoman Dr Kate Baddock said dental decay “remains the most prevalent chronic, yet reversible disease in New Zealand”.

Māori and Pasifika have worse oral health outcomes as well as those living in areas of higher socioeconomic deprivation – this is an equity issue that must be addressed

Baddock said bold action was needed to prevent dental problems, including fluoridation of drinking water, and cutting down on sugar in food and drink.

Any move to provide more subsidised or free dental care would carry a huge cost. Currently, about $198 million a year is spent on oral health services, with most covering universal services for children and teenagers.

Adults must pay the full cost, and bills can run into thousands of dollars.

Kiwis without enough money live in chronic pain that affects work, quality of life, and mental and wider health. Gum disease increases the risk of heart disease, and poor oral health increases the chances of bacterial infection in the bloodstream.

Slater, Caitlin. ‘Memories of Dental Nurses and the “Murder House”’. Stuff, 15 Feb. 2016, https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/76918041/memories-of-dental-nurses-and-the-murder-house.

During World War, I about 40 per cent of potential recruits were rejected because the poor state of their teeth meant they were not fit to serve.

Baker, Gabrielle. ‘Inequality in Dental Care Is a Treaty Issue’. The Spinoff, 7 Oct. 2019, https://thespinoff.co.nz/science/07-10-2019/inequality-in-dental-care-is-a-treaty-issue/.

once we turn 18 means that good oral health and regular dental visits are luxuries for many, requiring bravery and serious coin. 

Oral health data also shows a picture of health sector failure, even when the service is “free”. For example, Māori and Pacific children under five are more likely than other children to have cavities (whether or not they live in areas with fluoridated water supply)

“Māori as Tiriti/Treaty partners have not been well served by the health and disability system. During the symposium oral health was described as a Cinderella policy area, in reference to it receiving less attention than it should from policymakers last national oral health policy, Good Oral Health For All, For Life, was released in 2006 and only one of the seven priority actions have been achieved. Meanwhile, the inequities in access to oral health services and in good oral health outcomes remain and there doesn’t appear to be any consequences (for the Ministry, DHBs or providers) for the lack of equitable progress. 

Good oral health is central to our overall wellbeing (affecting our ability to do everything from smiling freely to chewing food easily) yet it is treated as a separate and siloed issue in terms of health funding. 77 per cent of general practice services are publicly funded compared to 24 per cent of dental services. This creates a very real barrier to access for people, partially explaining the steep costs we all experience as adults seeking dental care

Martin, Hannah. ‘“Appalling” Child Tooth Decay Rates in Northland and Auckland’. Stuff, 11 Apr. 2019, https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/111956057/appalling-child-tooth-decay-rates-in-northland-and-auckland.

Two-fifths of pre-schoolers in Northland and Auckland have tooth decay

But along the way, they found 40 per cent of the children had one or more decayed, missing or filled tooth surface in their primary (baby or milk) teeth

Aung and Tin-Tin said the "significant" and "surprising" association between tooth decay and injury admissions may be due to "common factors" relating to wider issues of social inequities – being from lower socioeconomic status, poor physical environments and large families

he data showed non-European children and those living in Northland – in more deprived areas or those without water fluoridation – had higher rates of tooth decay. 

Of those surveyed, more than 64 per cent of Pacific and 59 per cent of Māori children had tooth decay. 

It was "appalling" to see that two in five pre-school children had caries, Tin Tin told Stuff. 

"This underscores the need for urgent public health actions to improve oral health and reduce inequalities in pre-school children," she said. 

Rates of tooth decay in New Zealand far exceed rates overseas

Northland's lack of fluoridation in its water supply and New Zealand's "minimal" regulation around the availability and promotion of sugary foods and drinks also played a role, they said. 

President of the New Zealand Dental Association, Bill O'Connor said Northland and Auckland's dental services were "overwhelmed".

The findings reinforced the association's position particularly around the role sugary drinks and water fluoridation played in oral health, he said

Both Northland and Auckland were experiencing shortages of oral health therapists, amid "huge demand"

Revive A Smile (nzdentalcharity.org)

Revive A Smile is a New Zealand based dental charity established in 2011 by Dr Assil Russeull and run by a team of dental health professionals from all over Aotearoa.

Revive a Smile aims to reduce oral health disparities experienced by disadvantaged and impoverished Kiwis. 

The project works by providing much needed free dental treatment education and oral health products (such as health packs, including toothbrushes, floss and mouth wash.

Revive a Smile provides dental care and various members and groups of the community including homeless persons, victims of domestic violence, refugee migrants, low-income adults and the elderly. It aims to empower kiwis to take control of their oral health by treating toothache and developing personal skills, enabling people to become, healthy, contributing members of society.

Founded on Dr Russell’s philosophy that “caring creates change”

Revive a smile is a dental charity that is purely about caring indiscriminately without conditions.

Revive A Smile runs charity mobiles dental clinics and partner practices throughout New Zealand.

Are Supported by Southern Cross. Random Input: Word In Class

Words given: Chicken, Wave and Bus

Daily Exercise: Random Input - Word and in response to reading: Hayden, Leonie. ‘Why Diversity Matters (and No One Should Need to Write This Headline in 2020)’. The Spinoff, 18 July 2020, https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/18-07-2020/why-diversity-matters-no-one-should-need-to-write-this-headline-in-2020/.

For today’s poster I used the word I got from class: chicken for my poster. I wanted to try hand drawing it as opposed to doing it digitally as I really enjoyed it from Monday’s class the quick sketching of ideas. I played cut the pictures out then played around trying out different compositions before scanning it and editing it in photoshop. After doing the reading through my poster I wanted to show the key idea of “perspective being an asset”. In my poster I show two chicken one that is white the other that is of colour, the white chicken is able is free ranged and lives a life outside of a cage and is able to receive food. In comparison the chicken who is coloured is a chicken that is caged can only watch as the other eats.

Word List

Inequality 

Bias 

Difference

Discrimination

Disparity 

Injustice

Unfairness

Contrast

Variation

Dentist

Tooth fairy 

Murder house 

Mad house

Murder

Assassination

Bloodshed

Crime

Destruction

Massacre

Butchery

Carnage 

Teeth

Fang 

Incisor 

Molar 

Premolar 

Snag

Canine 

Dent 

Grind

Grinder

Mouth

Box

Cavity 

Door 

Entrance

Gate 

Beak

Chops 

Clam 

Crevice

Funnel

Gob

Jaws

Trap

Portal

Bone 

Cartilage 

Abrasion

Plaque

Oral

Fracture 

Extraction

Excision

Erosion

Dry mouth

Decay

Cusp

Crown - artificial 

Cementum 

Composite 

Bicuspid

Waves of emotions 

[mwongihiwehi]

Week 1.1

Ihi Wehi

Ihi (authority charisma, awe-inspiring, psychic power)

Wehi (fear, awe, respect)

Wana (thrill, fear, excitement, awe-inspiring)

‘Understand Inequality’. Inequality: A New Zealand Conversation, http://www.inequality.org.nz/understand/.

What is inequality?

Many kinds of inequality - of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and so on.

Inequality in New Zealand?

In New Zealand income (and probably wealth) was being shared out more and more evenly from the 1950’s up until the 1980s - but for the next two decades, we had developed the world's biggest increase in income inequality.

Inequality and Poverty

Inequality connects both ends of the spectrum, wealth and poverty and argues that they have to be looked at together.

Poverty doesn’t exist in isolation: people are poor, in part because the economy directs much of the country’s resources to those who are already doing well. Wealth and poverty can’t be separated.

Wealth is also very largely in the hands of a few. That leaves many people in poverty, lacing the resources they need to participate in society and follow their dreams.

Inequality Concerns

Polling shows New Zealanders consistently rated inequality as the single biggest issues facing the country since 2014

Over 80% of the country says that they are concerned or very concerned about income and wealth imbalances

Internationally, all the world's major economic bodies including the IMF, the OECD and the World Bank - have argued for some time that inequality is a major problem and must be addressed.

Impacts of Inequality

For some people inequality is fundamentally unfair: if people get such very different rewards for their work there must be something wrong

Unequal societies are less functional, less cohesive and less healthy than their more equal counterparts.

The damage inequality does fall under 5 headings: trust and cohesion; health; opportunities; open politics and the economy

Trust and Cohesion

In an unequal society, people lose touch with how ‘the other half’ lives.

Growing income imbalances breed distrust and eat away at the bonds between people, weakening our sense of each other’s lives and our ability to pull together to tackle difficult problems.

Health 

More unequal societies are more materially competitive, more hierarchical and more stressful. This leads to higher rates of stress-related illness.

Opportunities

Opportunities are damaged as well: inequality means that people’s chances are limited by who their parents were. ( in a society like America, you can predict half of a person's income from what their parents earned because huge inequality leads to such different starts for rich and poor kids and the government doesn't offer much support for adults. advantages and disadvantages are passed on from generation to generation.)

Politics 

Inequality allows wealthy people to influence politicians who rely on them for donation to fund their campaigns because poverty deprives them of the full talents of some children and the economy becomes prone to asset bubbles and instability.

Economy

Recent OECD and IMF research shows that more unequal countries have worse economics because poverty deprives them of the full talents of some children and the economy becomes prone to asset bubbles and instability.

In these 5 areas, the failings affect all of us, no matter where we are on the spectrum

What Causes Inequality?

Inequality has many causes, and vary from country to country

Globe trade agreements play a role by shifting manufacturing and other jobs to countries with lower pay, but many of the causes are purely domestic.

In NZ, in the 80s and 90s taxes were cut for top earner while benefits were reduced by up to 30 per cent for the poorest families

Thousands of people lost their jobs as companies moved overseas and the number of people in trade unions which traditionally pushed up the wages of ordinary workers- fell from 70 per cent of the workforce to 20 per cent

Some inequality is down to things like household types ( we have more single parents families than before and they tend to be poorer)

When it comes to wealth the sale of public assets will have increased the wealth of those at the upper end, while decking homeownership means fewer and fewer people have that most important kind of assets. Data shows that most saving- a key way to build up wealth - is very difficult except for those who have large incomes or work in the property sector.

Income Inequality is usually calculated based on after-tax income (since that is what people can actually spend) and on a household basis (since people spend money as part of a larger family unit in most cases).

Another way to look at income inequality is the Gini coefficient which in essence takes all the income haps in a country - all the gaps between how income is distorted and how it would be discussed in a perfect even society - and adds them together.

Daily Exercise: Pictionary

Why Inequality Matters - Max Rashbrooke

Living worlds apart

Disconnected Worlds

Since the 1980s the number of people who are poor in New Zealand has doubled, with many families living in severe hardships

“Behind the statistics are real people”

Statistics show us how unequal our society has become.

Inequality affects all who live here

From the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s the gap between the rich and the rest widened faster in NZ than in any other developed country.

The gradual shift that builds until it reaches a tipping point. That time is now.

“Poverty had a direct impact on society

The widening gap between-low-middle- and high-income New Zealanders - nonetheless connects us all.

There is ‘only one deck’ - Karlo Mila

Defining inequality: in the book, the ‘income’ part generally refers to households’ disposable income: the amount households have to spend after taxes have been paid and any benefits and tax credits added

Money matters -It may not be the only one thing that makes for a good life but it is vital Income is a powerful influence on one's well being and standards of living

Deep poverty is not a temporary event. When Maori families migrated to urban areas in the 1950s they were often forced by poverty and discrimination into poor quality housing with knock-on effects for their health and well-being.

In NZ women and Maori did not necessarily share in this income distribution. However, the gender gap was reducing, with the average income for all women (including those not in paid work) rising from 20 per cent of men in 1951 to 54 per cent by 1986. Average Maori incomes rose from 50 per cent of non-Maori income to 62 per cent over the same period.

Children in NZ are more likely to be poor and less likely to feel safe and well than children in most other developed countries.

Rates of preventable disease especially among children and elderly have been described  as a ‘national embarrassment’

NZ historically one of the developed worlds more equal society but have fallen in ranking due to an unprecedented increase in income inequality between the mid-80s - mid-90s

Low-income stagnation is due largely to a combination of two factors a growing number of people on benefits and sharp curs in the value of those benefits

Income inequality rose sharply from the mid-1980s through to the mid-90s plateaued before falling slightly under Helen Clarks labour government thanks largely to working for families, but never recovered to its pre-1980s level

Pre 1970s New Zealand is often remembered as a reality conformist country, in which equality was entwined with ideas of security and stability and much that smacked of difference was seen as a threat.

Reducing inequality may also have lost support because of its being associated with conformity

A more equal society is also sometimes seen as a more conformist one

Governments do make a difference! Within the constraints of globalization, they can influence how income is distributed

As individuals we have some control over inequality too, through the public pressure we place on governments and in the way we deal with those around us. How we think about income gaps, and how we decide to address them, will do much to alter NZ levels of inequality in the years to come.

Key Terms:

Inequality: the extent of divergence of income and/or wealth within a society typically the term refers to disparities among individuals and groups, but can refer to income differences between countries.

Inequality, horizontal: Inequality between groups; also an inequality that an individual suffers as a result of their membership of a group (for example an ethnic minority).

Inequality, vertical: Inequality between individuals, some of whom will be higher on the income ‘ladder’ than others.

Pakeha: A Maori term for someone who is not of Maori descent

Working for families: A system of gunmen payments that top up the earnings of many people with low and middle incomes and dependent children under nineteen. Some components of this scheme discriminate against households whose main source of income is benefits or part-time employment. See Also ‘Tax credits’.

Tax Credits: Monetary payment made through Inland Revenue ( or other taxation authorities); negative taxes. In New Zealand, top-up payments made to low- and middle-income households under the working for families scheme are called ‘tax credits’. for today daily exercise in my poster, I wanted to talk about Health Inequalities in New Zealand particularly focusing on mental health inequalities. I know that a lot of people in lockdown especially felt isolated and there are a lot of barriers that prevent people from getting access to mental health services. I wanted to show a person in isolation almost being too big for the house I wanted to show them feeling trapped. With these guns shooting them and a tank almost like a war that they are struggling to escape.

Week 1 Lab