Constructing prevention programmes with a Māori health service provider view

ABSTRACT

Mainstream approaches to chronic condition management and prevention inadequately address the needs of Māori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand. Māori health service providers (MHSPs) are uniquely placed to address the critical gap in the prevention of chronic conditions. In this paper, we report qualitative research findings investigating how prevention was being modelled, practiced and measured in selected MHSP settings. Results indicate barriers to achieving wellbeing through health service delivery. The dominant individualistic, medical conditions-focused discourse, along with responding to acute need, is a driver of service delivery norms.There are examples of shifts in organisational structure and delivery configurations that demonstrate that these norms are being challenged and reframed, in some form, by MHSPs. Consolidation of these approaches requires significant work and increased resources as well as a broader systems-level response that prioritises prevention.

KEYWORDS:

• Chronic conditions
• prevention
• Māori health services
• Indigenous

Acknowledgements

We thank the case study sites that have given so much of their time and energy to the research; we appreciate the partnerships that have been formed over the years that have enabled research focused on the needs of the provider community to be carried out.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflicts of interest were reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

We also wish to acknowledge the Health Research Council of New Zealand for funding the research; HRC 14/146 funded 2014 due for completion early 2018.