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National

Iwi-backed researchers get funding boost to help improve health system

A small, Whanganui-based Māori research company is one of four organisations to receive capability-boosting funding it hopes will lead to improved understanding of Māori in the health system.

Ngāti Hauiti-owned Whakauae Research Services is believed to be the only research centre in Aotearoa that is directly owned and accountable to an Iwi entity, and has been recognised for its research undertaken to support Māori health equity.

It will receive a share of the HRC’s $38.3 million Independent Research Organisation Capability Fund which recognises nationally significant work conducted by organisations outside of the mainstream government and university sector.

Whakauae Research Centre Director Amohia Boulton (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Pūkenga, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Mutunga) says the funds are specifically awarded to build research and innovation capability to upskill its staff, while also expanding the small team of 10. Crucially, it will allow research to be targeted to the communities needing it most, as soon as possible.

"Because we have it now, we can say to the community 'What are the questions you need to be answered? What are the things that are important to you?' And we don't have to go through another process to determine whether that question is the sexy question of the day. And we can start working with them immediately," she told teaomaori.news.

'They know what their needs are'

Boulton says for Māori health equity, particularly in the regions, it is crucial that the needs and circumstances are heard and actioned early to address the inequities within the health system.

"They know best what is happening in their community. They know what their needs are, they don't need other people coming in from outside.

"We're doing everything they are expecting in a research sense in terms of the rigour of the work, so  the Ministry of Health and others can't poo-poo it and go 'no, that's just hearsay, from you know, whatever.' No, it's research that's been conducted properly. And this is what the people are telling us. You need to pay attention to it now."

As Aotearoa undergoes a major health restructure, including the pending launch of the Māori Health Authority (MHA) in July, the funding comes at an important time for an organisation working to gather critical evidence about how Māori experience the health system.

“We aim to release findings that provide the hard evidence needed to inform policy and strategy in the health sector. We want to unlock the potential of tangata whenua to exercise their mana and enable their mauri to flourish and we want to do it the right way, based on the right data, to ensure this systematic change is a long-term success,” Boulton says.

By Māori, for Māori

Whakauae Research was established by Ngāti Hauiti in 2005 and has developed a unique Kaupapa Māori research model which blends traditional Western knowledge and mātauranga Māori. Boulton says the origins of the centre lay with a vision by Heather Gifford.

"Her vision has always been that it is Māori, who will find the solution for Māori. And her passion is iwi development. She set up the research unit because she knew that if we are to have our vision as iwi, then we have to develop the research and find the evidence that we need to support our own development needs. That has always been the driving force."

The fund’s other recipients are Te Atawhai o te Ao, Malaghan Institute of Medical Research and the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand.

Boulton is particularly pleased to note that two of the four organisations awarded funding are Māori research centres dedicated to kaupapa Māori research and both are in the same rohe.

“Our congratulations to Te Atawhai o te Ao on receiving this funding. Such significant funding signals a clear commitment to health equity and gives us all encouragement to keep building evidence to support transformational change.”