July 27, 2021
Study gives Maori stronger hand in health reforms
A new research programme aims to give Māori more power to take advantage of the health reforms.
Whakauae Research Services, which is owned by Rangitikei-based Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hauiti, has received $5 million from the Health Research Council for a five-year programme to build knowledge on what is needed for better health outcomes for Māori.
Research director Amohia Boulton says while the Government talks about the importance of iwi and rangatiratanga in health, there needs to be a process of collecting and testing knowledge that can drive system change.
“So this research is really collecting those iwi, those whānau, those community voices and then presenting that material back to those decision-makers to say ‘this is what our people have said, here is the evidence, can you now take this evidence and work with us and put it into practice so we can actually get those changes we need to see inequity of health outcome,'” she says.
Separate work streams will look at issues like healthy home environments, good practice in the primary health care system, and increasing Māori access to health care in the pre-diagnosis phase of cancer.
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