The Board is pleased to welcome the following participants to its panel discussion on cultural safety and competence.
Rasela-Joy Gibson
Malo le soifua maua! My name is Rasela-Joy Gibson and I’m a Palagi-Samoan Physiotherapist working for Te Whatu Ora in Kenepuru, Wellington. My villages on Dad’s side are Gataivai in Savaii and Lufilufi in Upolu, and my Mum is from Ashburton with links back to southern England. I graduated in 2013 from Otago University and spent the first 5 years in private practice before realizing that I wanted to work in the public setting. Since joining the public workforce in 2018 I have worked in the community teams, outpatient settings, and the sub-acute inpatient setting, and now I am a manager for the Allied Health Inpatient team in Kenepuru hospital. I firmly believe that good leaders are good servants – and I am always aiming to improve my ability to serve my team and the patients and people that we impact. In my spare time I am working towards my Masters of Business Administration and am the Co-Chair of the Pasifika Physiotherapists Association. I always enjoy spending time with my aiga and am always keen for a good cup of coffee!
Jane Fairbairn
Jane has worked in many areas of Physiotherapy both public and private. In the past decade she has been on working in the older adult space and is currently the Manager in aged care delivery at Willis St Physiotherapy in Wellington region. Her team consists of Physiotherapists and an Occupational Therapist. They are advocating for, supporting and treating those in aged care and the teams of carers and other health professionals that support them.
She provides delivery herself both with her team and in her own business with people with Parkinson’s disease. The aim is working to enable them to manage their journey via exercise and education via the Duncan foundation to help every NZer be able to access the care they need.
Anna Mason-Mackay
Anna is a Musculoskeletal physiotherapist from Wellington and member of the queer community (she/they). They have worked clinically across 7 different countries and taught on physiotherapy programmes in Aotearoa, Hong Kong and Qatar.
Anna is currently an academic staff member at Wintec-Te Pūkenga, a PhD student at AUT, and regularly leads trainings and presentations regarding cultural responsiveness and access to care for rainbow communities.
Arantzaus Morales
Arantzasu, or Ari, as most people know her, is a Chilean physiotherapist. She graduated from Universidad Andres Bello (Santiago, Chile) and she has a Diploma in Orthopaedic Manual Therapy from the same entity. She gained Pilates method practice certification in 2015, and is certified Pelvic Health Physiotherapist, one of her most recent areas of interest.
She is fluent in both Spanish and English, using her native language to provide better care to those Spanish speakers in the Wellington Region who might struggle to express themselves in English.