Last Friday, over 100 representatives from 12 iwi and leading Māori healthcare providers gathered in Auckland for a Mate Wareware Wānanga/Dementia Iwi Forum focused on kaupapa Māori approaches to dementia care.
Hosted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and The Selwyn Foundation, the forum addressed challenges in supporting kaumātua with mate wareware and showcased innovative initiatives to enhance their well-being as dementia rates among kaumātua rise.
Denise Cosgrove, chief executive of The Selwyn Foundation, says Māori are overrepresented in Aotearoa’s dementia statistics, and Western models fail to incorporate Māori mātauranga or perspectives.
Reflecting on her nearly 92-year-old mother’s mild dementia, Cosgrove found inspiration in Makarena Dudley’s article He Taonga Te Wareware, which links dementia with Māori spirituality, offering her a fresh perspective on her mother’s condition.
“You know, she’s starting to connect with her tupuna, and it seems confusing to me and to my siblings, but actually, I can see how it’s drawing together that sort of wairua space that that tapu space between this world and the next,” says Cosgrove.
Denise Cosgrove says the forum’s key takeaway, was the urgent need for more culturally relevant resources for Māori whānau and carers.
