Lay summary
Karu Ora is a novel Kaupapa Māori research project that aims to improve Māori eye health in New Zealand. Principal investigator Renata Watene is an emerging Indigenous eye health leader who will draw on her experiences as a Māori student at the University of Auckland as well as her twenty-three-year career as a community optometrist. By applying an equity lens to analyse existing eye health services, this research seeks to address significant gaps in service provision, disease detection, treatment, and vision impairment experienced by Māori. The project will explore existing Indigenous Models of health care locally and globally and gather insights from Māori whānau, patients within eye health settings and Māori eye health care providers. Mātauranga Māori will guide and inform the development and evaluation of tools to improve Māori eye health services that are culturally aware, responsive, and fit for purpose to support the aspirations of Māori.