The Kia Puāwai programme grant was born out of the knowledge that despite years of health research and new health initiatives, Māori keep experiencing health disparities.
The TUI component of Kia Puāwai has been designed to change how we apply our research knowledge. Specifically, this means we work on how we translate the key messages (from research findings and other insights) into communications that are easily understood and related to by the intended key audience, and in particular whānau, hapori Māori, hapū and Iwi; how we ensure uptake, which means how the key messages result in changes to how (services) are delivered, or designed; and lastly, we want to be able to see what impact, what changes might have been triggered or facilitated in in response to research findings. This is all part of understanding that when Māori experience disparities, they do so because of the way that our systems work – not just our health system, but how everything fits together as part of a complex web; the many different factors such as our underlying social and systemic structures, as well as mental attitudes, values and beliefs. In order to change these systems, we need to understand how they work, and what (or who) holds the systems in place.
That is why the Whakauae team have started on a journey looking at systems change and how our mātauranga Māori can be used to create a framework for how we think about and apply systems change in our Kia Puāwai programme grant.
We have therefore partnered with the Innovation Unit (https://www.innovationunit.org/) to help us understand how systems thinking can go beyond the surface to obtain deeper levels of knowing. In our sessions with the Innovation Unit we have looked at the theories that provide concepts for understanding systemic complexity (such as the Niho Taniwha model) and other tools to help us keep learning and reflecting about how we can use research to effect positive change for Māori.
Some of the ‘big questions’ we want to answer...
● What is our big, bold collective goal for Whakauae in terms of system change?
● How do we change/shift what mainstream New Zealanders think?
● What strategies can we use to disrupt the Crown system for wider transformation?
● What are the relevant levers for systems change here?
● How might we harness the power of a new narrative?
The TUI team has developed a set of mindsets for change which we have been using to prepare us to “think outside the box”.
In our two workshops with the Innovation Unit we have been challenging ourselves to keep evolving our thinking, and conceive of a new way to talk about how we understand what systems are and how we can all play a part in changing them. Watch this space on any new updates of where we land with this exciting exploration!
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