National health survey shows poor understanding of Maori health

The focus on individuals and their personal health status reveals only the tip of the iceberg of Maori health, says Maori Party health spokesperson Tariana Turia.

“If we persist in viewing health as being an absence of disease, our understanding of the greater picture of health and wellbeing is forever limited,” said Mrs Turia.

“Research designed by tangata whenua for tangata whenua looks at a wider picture, and can identify issues that cause ill health, which are not fully considered in this report.

“Maori researchers have identified factors such as cultural competency and social connectedness as having similar effects on the health of tangata whenua. Knowledge of te reo and whakapapa, tikanga and so on, make a person stronger.

“Maori health providers have achieved great results in health, partly by being aligned with the resurgence in tikanga Maori and tino rangatiratanga – our people doing things for themselves.

“Cultural competence is not just about a cultural preference - it is actually a well established means of achieving better health outcomes,” said Mrs Turia.

“I suspect that the figures in the government’s report lag behind the real health gains our people have achieved. The plateau in stats for obesity and diabetes indicate that. But what we want is a better picture – and this report doesn’t give us that,” she said.

“We have enough models out there about how to measure cultural health. The M
ori development outcome framework, He Ngahuru, for example, is a model developed by Ngai Tahu to recognise cultural identity, participation in Te Ao M
ori and access to cultural heritage as key indicators of outcome alongside the more conventional indicators of health and wellbeing.

“There’s no excuse for presenting a survey about the health of New Zealanders and neglecting to focus on such a key part,” said Mrs Turia.