Consulting with Māori experts to ensure mainstream health research is inclusive of Māori

Abstract
Understanding the lived realities of Māori patients with long-term health conditions (LTCs) is essential if the health system in Aotearoa New Zealand is to eliminate current Māori health disparities and support Māori patients appropriately. Culturally responsive researchers can gain insights by ensuring the inclusion of Māori participants in research on LTCs. To strengthen her capability to be culturally responsive, a tauiwi (non-Māori) health researcher consulted Māori experts throughout her in-depth research with 16 people with long term conditions, including six Māori participants. The trust built during consultation aided the recruitment of Māori participants through experts’ networks. Advice received about culturally responsive engagement with Māori participants helped the researcher safeguard participants’ mana (dignity and status) during and after the research and ensured their voices were heard accurately and represented well. The research findings consequently offered guidance for the transformation of health services to facilitate positive Māori health development.

Ngā ariā matua
He mea tino nui kia mārama te tangata ki ngā āhuatanga o te noho o ngā tūroro Māori whai ngoikoretanga hauora wā-roa (LTC) kia whakakorea atu ngā rerekētanga o ngā āhuatanga hauora Māori ki ō te nuinga i raro i te pūnaha hauora o Aotearoa, kia tika hoki te tautoko i ngā tūroro Māori. Ka āhei ngā kairangahau mārama ki te ahurea te katokato māramatanga mā te whakauru i a ngāi Māori kia whai wāhi ki ngā rangahau mō ngā LTC. Hei whakapakari i tōna māramatanga ki ngā āhuatanga ahurea, i toro atu tētahi kairangahau ehara i te wahine Māori ki ētahi mātanga Māori, nā roto i āna rangahau hōhonu ki ētahi tāngata 16 whai ngoikoretanga hauora wā-roa, ā, e 6 o rātou he Māori. Nā te whakapono i hua ake i te torotoronga i ngāwari ake ai te kimi tāngata whai wāhi Māori, nā roto i ngā kupenga tāngata o ngā mātanga. Nā ngā tohutohu mō te tūhono i runga i te whakaaro-nui ki te ahurea ki te hunga Māori whai wāhi mai i āwhina te kairangahau ki te tiaki i te mana o te hunga whai wāhi mai i roto, i muri hoki i te rangahau, i tino rangona ai ō rātou reo, kia tika, kia pai. Nā ngā kitenga o te rangahau ka puta ake ētahi aratohu mō te whakaumutanga o ngā ratonga hauora hei whakangāwari i te whanaketanga hauora Māori takatika.

Keywords / Ngā kupu matua
chronic conditions / ngā ngoikoretanga pūputu; health research / rangahau hauora; self-management / whakahaere ā-kiri; long-term conditions / ngā ngoikoretanga wā roa; Māori consultation / te torotoro whakaaro Māori; Māori or Indigenous health / te hauora Māori, iwi taketake rānei