Lay summary
Te Mana o te Whanau
Te Ropu Wahine Maori Toko I Te Ora
The title identifies the kaupapa - to place the locus of knowledge back to the whanau, affirming their Mana by validating their lived experiences. It is to whakamana the whanau where this term is translated as: to give effect to, give prestige to, make effective and rectify.
Specific research objectives in relation to Maori include:
(1) To capture the perceived and qualitative impact of current health service delivery for Maori whanau; and
(2) To identify what enablers/barriers currently exist for whanau as a mediator for health.
The project is a successful collaboration between Whanau, a community organisation - Te Ropu Wahine Maori Toko I Te Ora o Te Waipounamu, members of the Maori Indigenous Health Institute (MIHI) and the HRC to investigate community identified research and provide the means for partnerships to occur that support theorising Maori health and wellbeing from a place where Maori epistemology and Tikanga are legitimized. Where discussions 'about Maori' can as Kathy Irwin proposes “start from Te Ao Maori and extend outwards to Te Ao Pakeha, rather than the other way around, yet is capable of weaving both traditions together”.