There have been some great outcomes in the first 18 months of our He Waka Eke Noa study. A first for us was developing and acting in our own short video introducing the research to you all. Thank goodness we have willing members of our whānau who were willing to jump in, take starring roles and help make our video shine! The short video can be viewed on this website.
We also had an article published exploring the compatibility of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) with our Kaupapa Māori research approach. We are using AI in our study. When we presented the article to our Kia Puāwai research colleagues, one noted that it was great resource that they would also be able to use with their students – yay winning! The link to our article is included at the end of this update. It is free to access.
A member of our team, who obviously has more energy than some of us, presented our research this year not only internationally but also at a regional hui. Thanks Gill
for sharing our He Waka Eke Noa study insights at the Lowitja Conference held in Cairns, Queensland and at the Kanapu Hihiri Regional Symposium in Whanganui.
Gill will hopefully be back presenting in Australia early next year if the abstract we have submitted for the World Indigenous Cancer Conference is accepted.
We are especially thankful for the enduring relationships that we have developed with our whānau research participants. Even though they have other more pressing things to deal with, they have been willing to take part again this year by contributing to the Dream Phase of the study. The feedback we have had from whānau reinforces how much they have valued the research and what it has meant to them.
While we have had challenges getting a whole team of health workers together in one space with the time and energy to ‘dream’ about an improved primary health care system, we think we have nailed this and it will now happen just before Xmas. Thanks Gonville Health. We know how hard it is working in the sector right now. In 2024, we will let you all know how our Dream Phase data collection has gone.
A final highlight for us has been the process of collecting, analysing and sharing the data from our Discovery Phase research. We have worked closely with the TUI team to find more engaging and relevant ways of sharing research results with participants, and we are pleased with the feedback we have had. We have been particularly pleased with the way we have been able to make Discovery Phase research results available to whānau through a booklet that they can keep and share. Whānau told us they liked the format of the booklet and agreed with the content. Gonville Health results are being shared in the poster format reproduced below alongside the booklet cover.
We also want to share our high-level Discovery Phase themes with you in this update. In this first phase of the study, we collected data on what is working well; both for whānau on a cancer pathway and for staff working at Gonville Health. We analysed both the whānau and the Gonville Health data and compared the findings. We were encouraged to find that the results were mutually reinforcing, always good in research terms for testing validity.
What works
Common themes identified by both whānau and Gonville Health that contribute to hauora include strong advocacy, being non-judgemental, relationships and caring and working well as a team. Our initial findings confirm what is currently working for whānau and for one low cost, high access clinic in Whanganui to achieve health outcomes for the enrolled population in their community. This road map of success factors may be helpful for other practices confirming the importance of ‘working with humanity’ in achieving improved health outcomes for Māori.
While we appreciate that these results may seem like ‘common sense,’ they are preliminary results from a longer-term study. We will be exploring these early results in greater depth in the next phases of the research to determine what primary care health services (and whānau) need to ‘do more of’ to be responsive and effective in facilitating the earlier diagnosis of cancer among Māori whānau.
