Relationships between health and culture in Polynesia – A review

Capstick, Stuart; Norris, Pauline; Sopoaga, Faafetai; Tobata, Wale

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.01.002

Cited by 73 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Well-being in Samoa is focused on 'living well' more than on 'bodily vigilance' (Smith-Morris, 2006, p. 6;cf. Agee, McIntosh, Culbertson, & Makasiale, 2013;Capstick, Norris, Sopoaga, & Tobata, 2009;Carlisle & Hanlon, 2007, 2008, including placing social priorities over individual health. Health practitioners grapple with these differences by asking: 'How can you reduce sugar intake when tea is made in one pot for the household?'…”

Section: Health and Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Everyday translation: health practitioners’ perspectives on obesity and metabolic disorders in Samoa

Hardin

2014

Critical Public Health

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Research in Samoa and the diaspora has documented the nutrition transition and related rising metabolic disorders. Research suggests cultural influences, including large body size preference, sedentarism, and dietary patterns, as well as political and economic influences, including changed labor patterns and food dependence, contribute to rising metabolic disorders. This article documents how Samoan health practitioners understand barriers to lifestyle change as primarily cultural rather than structural. They highlight differences between health, framed as individually oriented, and well-being, framed as socially oriented. Drawing from participant observation and semi-structured interviews, this article shows how health practitioners engage in 'everyday translation' by aiming to change the meaning of food, body, and wealth. Attention to everyday translation provides insights into the ambivalent ways interviewees identify culture as a barrier to health care. They avoid blaming patients, which has the paradoxical effect of suspending blame on individuals for not changing health behavior until cultural change occurs. This requires local leadership to effect community-wide change. When culture is recognized as the primary barrier to lifestyle change, health practitioners inadvertently reproduce structural inequalities in their daily interactions with patients. This has the effect of obscuring structural influences and promoting the idea that metabolic disorders are under individual control.

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Section: Health and Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Everyday translation: health practitioners’ perspectives on obesity and metabolic disorders in Samoa

Hardin

2014

Critical Public Health

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“…Furthermore, the FM indicated that she believed that her daughter's communication difficulties may have resulted from her having "sins." According to Capstick, Norris, Sopoaga, and Tobata (2009), sickness is viewed as being spiritual within Samoan culture. The FM's perceptions may have been associated with this belief.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of a Samoan–English speaker with bilingual aphasia: “it’s hard”

2015

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Background: Speech-language therapists need to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services for their clients. However, language assessment with bilingual adults with aphasia can be challenging for clinicians, due to the complexity surrounding both aphasia and bilingualism. There are few investigations focusing on the assessment of bilingual speakers with aphasia. More research is needed, particularly in relation to the specific experience of the individuals involved in the assessment process.Aim: This study aimed to explore the experience of an outpatient language assessment involving a Samoan-English speaker with bilingual aphasia, from the perspectives of the participants in the process. Methods & Procedures: An instrumental case study was used to explore one case involving a community speech-language therapist's assessment of a bilingual SamoanEnglish speaker with aphasia. Data collection involved three phases: participant observation of the two assessment sessions; semi-structured interviews with the individual with aphasia, her family member, her speech-language therapist, and one of the interpreters; and a stimulated-recall interview with the speech-language therapist. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify themes within the data. Outcomes & Results: Eight themes were revealed in relation to assessment of a bilingual adult with aphasia: Samoan-English language assessment is a hard process for the individuals involved; Samoan-English language assessment as a team process; differences in understanding of communication impairments and the assessment process; time; preparation; appropriateness of assessment tasks and resources; uncertainty; and flexibility. Conclusions: The findings highlight the complex nature of language assessment involving a bilingual Samoan-English speaker with aphasia and provide valuable insights into the experience of the process. The investigation identified a number of useful clinical implications that can help to inform clinical practice for clinicians working with assessment of bilingual aphasia both in Samoan-English speakers and in other bilingual populations.

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“…Similarly Pacific holistic models of wellbeing incorporate the physical, emotional, spiritual and social aspects of health (Cammock, Derrett & Sopoaga, 2014;Capstick, Norris, Sopoaga, & Tobata, 2009;Taufe'ulungaki, 2004). When all aspects are in balance, Pacific people achieve wellbeing.…”

Section: Understanding the Context I Tertiary Public And Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Context matters”: The challenges and opportunities of designing tertiary public and environmental health education in South Auckland

Kersey

Lees²,

Conn³

et al. 2018

pacifichealth

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This article outlines a study protocol, detailing the proposed methodology and findings of our preliminary literature review, for co-design of future NZ public and environmental health education for the South Auckland campus of AUT University. This research project aims to contribute to healthy communities and city, embrace emerging technologies, maximize youth employability, and develop an outstanding 21st Century tertiary environment. The proposed project will contribute to a significant re-conceptualization of curriculum; student learning and voice; and partnerships with communities and a fast-changing industry. Using a design based research approach to curriculum development, the research practitioners in this project will immerse themselves in the context of the project, be guided by emerging theory in developing design principles, construct features of an intervention and evaluate the impact on teaching and learning. Situated in Kaupapa Māori and Pacific epistemologies and utilising collaborative design principles, the study will explore the diverse and complex context in which public and environmental health will be provided at AUT South. Of particular relevance will be an examination of the following drivers of tertiary, and public and environmental health, education in the 21st century: the unique South Auckland context, the need to embrace evolving concepts of public health, rapid technological change, and changing education paradigms. Our ultimate goal is to develop co-designed interventions that accommodate the unique cultural and ethnic makeup of the South Auckland context with the opportunity for transferability across the tertiary sector, situated within a social constructivist philosophy appropriate for our new digital economy and environmental challenges.

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Relationships between health and culture in Polynesia – A review

Cited by 73 publications

References 39 publications

Everyday translation: health practitioners’ perspectives on obesity and metabolic disorders in Samoa

Everyday translation: health practitioners’ perspectives on obesity and metabolic disorders in Samoa

Assessment of a Samoan–English speaker with bilingual aphasia: “it’s hard”

“Context matters”: The challenges and opportunities of designing tertiary public and environmental health education in South Auckland

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