Indigenous health services development – tools and networks for pro-equity care

Inequities in access to healthcare services and related outcomes are a feature of the health system in Aotearoa and the United States (US), with the Indigenous populations in these countries being most adversely affected by these inequities. Intentional, pro-equity service development is needed to correct this and achieve Indigenous health equity. This project will focus on the development of collaborative relationships between researchers who specialise in Indigenous health, older adult health, implementation science, and health services research in the two countries. A focus of the collaboration will be the development of research tools that promote health equity in the design, implementation and evaluation of pragmatic intervention trials in older adults, particularly in the context of dementia and Aged Residential Care. The methodological expertise of researchers in the US will support Māori health researcher capacity building. Implementation science skills will be developed for use in future real-world intervention research in Aotearoa.