Lay summary
Hard-to-reach Māori communities experience the poorest outcomes in health and social wellbeing, yet limited research covers these inequities and policy interventions often fail to have impact. Our researchers work extensively with hard-to-reach Māori communities to build trust, inspire hope and achieve social change using a process of penetration, engagement and mobilisation.
This research activation activity centres on a hard-to-reach Hamilton community where our researchers and Te Whatu Ora Waikato have implemented a multi-year innovative approach to health service delivery, covering vaccines and immunisations, health checks, smoking cessation, parenting programmes, and family violence prevention.
Research activation activities include a literature review, assumption testing, capacity and capability building within the hard-to-reach community and fostering relationships with those who can contribute to and benefit from the research. These activities will support preparation for future research with hard-to-reach communities to improve equity and access to healthcare in our hardest to reach populations.