Scholars awarded prestigious HRC Career Development Awards

Four Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University researchers leading the way in innovative health solutions for Aotearoa New Zealand's Māori and Pacific communities have been awarded Health Research Council (HRC) Career Development Awards. These awards are pivotal in supporting the next generation of health researchers, empowering emerging scholars to explore critical areas of Māori and Pacific health and promoting wellbeing across Aotearoa.

This year’s awardees are undertaking research projects that reflect the diverse needs and aspirations of Aotearoa’s health landscape with an emphasis on cultural relevance, Māori and Pacific community engagement and holistic wellbeing.

Provost Professor Giselle Byrnes congratulates this year’s awardees.

"These research projects illustrate the commitment of Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University to advancing real-world research that improves the lives and wellbeing of the communities we serve. Importantly, these projects draw on both Māori and Pacific research methodologies that serve to emphasise the role of communities in research processes. This is vital to the future of Aotearoa New Zealand."

Massey’s successful candidates

Elti Sannyasi, School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition – Pacific Health Masters Scholarship: Weight stigma in healthcare in patients in Aotearoa: Pacific patient voice

Through interviews and online surveys, Ms Sannyasi will research Pacific island patient experiences in the Aotearoa healthcare system in regard to discrimination towards body weight and size. This research seeks more variety in the healthcare offered to Pacific Island patients, such as non-diet approaches, and a better understanding by healthcare providers of weight stigma on marginalised populations and their healthcare outcomes.

Dr Kenneth Taiapa, SHORE and Whariki Research Centre - Māori Health Postdoctoral Fellowship: Hutia te rito: Māori men, birthing and whānau ora

Dr Taiapa, Ngātai Porou, Te Whānau ā Apanui, Rongowhakaata, seeks to connect tāne to their hapūtanga and early parenting roles. Hapūtanga especially is a critical time when tāne can become pou, knowing when to step forward, when to step back and when to stand strong. These often sidelined connections can strengthen whānau beyond pregnancy and birth and provide ways for tāne being tāne who nurture uri within their whānau and hapū. Dr Taiapa’s research will provide practical examples of tāne in these roles to show historically how tāne have embraced male and female essences. Connecting tāne to these real examples will enhance mana tangata and, importantly, mana whānau grounded in Māori concepts and approaches.

Nehemiah Gordon-Amoroa, Research Centre for Haurora and Health– Māori Health Masters Scholarship:  Kimihia te Tautoko: Supporting the mental Health of Māori in sport

Many Māori aspire to represent their country, to play sport professionally, to build a career based on their passion and support their whānau. While many have successfully achieved these goals, the vast majority have to grapple with the realisation that they will have to find another career path.

Most players are aware of these challenges and can effectively navigate the transition from athlete to another profession. For some, though, these realities lead to periods of depression, anxiety and broader feelings of worthlessness. This kaupapa Māori study, led by Mr Gordon-Amoroa, Ngāti Porou, Tuhoe, will investigate the type and range of mental health challenges faced by aspiring Māori athletes to inform what strategies might be employed to mitigate these issues and to better support Hauora Māori.

Dr Sharyn Heaton, Te Pūtahi-a-Toi – Māori Health Research Development Grant: Ko ngā pūrākau o ngā wai e rere nei: Narratives about the water

Dr Heaton, Kai Tahu, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Rangitāne ki Wairau, Muāūpoko, Te Arawa, will research multiple perspectives and understandings of wai and au for whānau wellbeing. An initial collaborative review will illustrate the mātauranga-ā-iwi associated with wai and au informed by the Māori language, deities, people, places and the natural environment. Dr Heaton will then conduct a comprehensive analysis of the use of wai and au in texts such as policy documents, archival materials, wānanga notes (pūrākau and kōrero), written and oral mōteatea and karakia to determine their potential relationships to whānau wellbeing. The research will be shared at wānanga-ā-whānau hui and then prepared for academic publication to further inform whānau wellbeing and Māori health advancement.