April 17, 2013
Māori injury rate topic for study
Massey University’s new college of health is looking into what can be done to lessen the number of injuries in Māori homes.
The college brings together specialists from public health, sport and exercise, nursing, social work, nutrition, Māori and Pasifika health and other disciplines.
Te Kani Kingi from the college’s Research Centre for Māori Health, says home hazards are a significant cause of injury to Māori.
That could be because of socio-economics rather than people being accident-prone.
“Typically, when you’re living in an environment where you haven’t got the resources to make those repairs that are required or to ensure that items within your home are safely secured, the chance of injuring yourself is increased. Unfortunately, Māori are more likely to be socio-economically challenged,” Te Kani Kingi says.
Up to half of the 350 houses involved in Massey University’s longitudinal study of Māori will receive up to $500 in improvements to see if that cuts the number of injury-producing slips, trips and falls.
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