Lay summary
This research will examine barriers to healthcare to improve health service outcomes and reduce inequities.Wāhi Kōrero is our innovative online research platform, where we invite whānau to respond to story prompts. For this project, the Wāhi Kōrero prompt will be, “I felt too whakamā (embarrassed, ashamed) to go to the doctor…” We will explicitly invite stories of missed care. Our project will radically change the knowledge base by engaging with those who do not access services. It may be challenging to accept that existing research and service surveillance do not capture the experiences of those who do not seek care. Unlike conventional service reviews, we will deliberately seek the voices of people who did not access care. Our project will transform this space by inviting people to anonymously share their stories of when care was not even sought, disrupting existing understandings of unmet need.