Kaupapa Maori Action Research to improve heart disease services in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Abstract

Action Research can be a powerful tool for change and improvement in health services for indigenous people when utilised within an appropriate framework. The project Maori Utilisation & Experience of Ischaemic Heart Disease Management illustrates this convergence in its use of Kaupapa Maori Action Research methods in its efforts to improve the health and well-being of Maori within the northern region of Aotearoa/New Zealand. We outline the research processes and outcomes obtained through the application of 'by Maori for Maori' approaches to understanding Maori pathways and barriers to care for ischaemic heart disease. Maori understandings of their illness and experiences of treatment, and healthcare providers' perspectives on care of Maori with ischaemic heart disease, were combined into Maori-led actions to improve service provision. The paper examines critical factors in an action research approach to health service innovations and implications for efforts to reduce entrenched health disparities.

Kaupapa Māori evaluation: A collaborative journey

“…In terms of practice, kaupapa Māori research can align closely with the principles of action research (AR) (Kerr et al, 2010). Both approaches emphasise community voice, collective understanding of issues, and developing participant definitions, processes, actions and outcomes.…”

“…As a result, they both draw attention to areas of strategic importance by revealing real and pressing issues for the communities and participants concerned. AR also complements kaupapa Māori research because it includes a reflective cycle that ensures the research approach, processes and outcomes are not a fixed or static modality, but rather are flexible and adaptive (Kerr et al, 2010).…”

“…T. Smith, 2012). In more recent years there has been a shift to Māori re-purposing research, with kaupapa Māori an influential part of turning the tables on academic research methods and practices (Cram, 2016;Kerr, Penney, Moewaka Barnes, & McCreanor, 2010;MastersAwatere, 2015). This shift has allowed Māori issues, concerns, ways of understanding, and practice to be placed at the centre of research enterprise rather than on the fringes.…”

Racial Inequities in Cardiovascular Disease in New Zealand

“…Using kaupapa Māori action research ("Māori Utilisation and Experience of Ischaemic Heart Disease Management") to improve the health and well-being of Māori within the northern region of Aotearoa/New Zealand has presented new opportunities to work with Māori communities and utilise a more sensitive approach to raising awareness of Māori to the dangers of CVD [59]. The integration of kaupapa Māori concepts in health research, combining the best of Māori worldview and western medicine is a novel way forward for positive outcomes for Māori cardiovascular health [53].…”

HIV/AIDS, beersellers and critical community health psychology in Cambodia: A case study

“…He gathered in-depth interviews guided by Lewin's "Action Research" framework and PAR. Both advocated community immersion, continuous bi-directional feedback-loops between researchers and participants, and cross-cultural sensitivity (Liu, Ng, Gastardo-Conaco & Wong, 2008;Kerr et al, 2010). Lubek fed back to interviewees their rank-ordered, crucial concerns -HIV/AIDS, gendered educational inequalities, and poverty's impacts on social conditions.…”