Course details

New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing (Social and Community Services) (Level 4)
NZQF Level 4

About the course

This one-year health and wellbeing course will provide students with the foundation knowledge, skills, and practical experience required to work alongside individuals, families, and whānau accessing social and community services.

Students gain a wide range of transferable skills essential to the role of a support worker and select from one of the following strands to further strengthen their learning:

  • Mental health and addiction support. Apply mental health and/or addiction tools and strategies when working alongside tangata, family, and whānau to support autonomy, foster hope, and develop resilience.
  • Social services. Apply community and social services tools and strategies when working alongside tangata, family, and whānau to support autonomy, identify goals, reduce vulnerability, and build resilience or achieve aspirations.

A key benefit of this programme is the flexibility in how it is delivered. Students study face-to-face with tutors and their peers two days a week and have three days for independent study or placement. For those already employed in a health care support role, this programme can be undertaken online.

Students will undertake 200 practicum hours in a work setting relevant to their selected strand to apply their knowledge and skills, enhance their learning, and develop professional practice.

We welcome all new students with an induction at our Hamilton City Campus at the start of the programme. 

About the provider

Based in Hamilton, the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), is one of the country’s largest institutes of technology. We deliver high-quality education across vocational (technical) and professional fields of study to approximately 13,000 students, across over 130 different courses.

At Wintec students are educated in a way that builds their confidence and gets them work-ready. We differ from other types of tertiary providers in the way students get the chance to put their theoretical learning into practice from the very start. You will get to work on real-life projects based on relevant topics and themes as if you were in the workplace. You will also get involved in work placements. This means that by the time you graduate, you will be confident in your skills and knowledge, and know-how to apply your learnings. Our academic staff have years of industry experience between them, which means they can guide you on your journey.

Wintec maintains collaborative relationships with local industry and iwi to identify the needs of the region and community. Fostering strong networks that our students and graduates benefit from is a high priority for us.  Understanding the needs of local industry, what type of graduates they need now, and what they will need in the future is critical to assisting industry and our graduates.