Lay summary
This project will build a collaborative research partnership with Māori to co-design a peer-led telehealth programme that is Mana enhancing and supports Māori with SCI to live well. Māori sustain spinal cord injuries (SCI) at a rate that is 1.8 times higher than New Zealand Europeans. Secondary health conditions are common after SCI and are related to greater longer-term disability. Māori have difficulty accessing services responsive to the needs of tangata whenua that support and maintain hauora (health) equitably. Support provided by peers with SCI is increasingly recognised as effective at providing information to, and promoting self-management skills of, people with SCI. Telehealth provides a cost-effective means of providing health care services. The co-design process will explore how a better understanding of Matauranga Māori (knowledge) and Tikanga (customs/protocols) could lead to the empowerment of Māori to participate in a peer-led support programme that supports mana motuhake (self-realisation)