An evaluation of the Raukawa Health Services Kaumatua Mirimiri Programme

The Kaumatua Mirimiri Programme was funded as a Service to Improve Access project under a contract which ran from 1st September 2004 to 30th June 2005. Its aim was to provide a “culturally based treatment and recovery programme to restore the health and independence” of people aged 40 years and over (Pinnacle Group Ltd, 2004a, p.1). However, as the service specification in the contract made clear, the programme was not designed be exclusive: it has attracted younger as well as older people, non-Māori as well as Māori, and people seeking help for a wide range of ailments and pain

Adolescent Māori mothers experiences with social support during pregnancy, birth and motherhood and their participation in education

The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of social support in helping adolescent Māori mothers cope with pregnancy, birth and motherhood, with a particular emphasis on its role in enabling them to continue at school. The aim of this research is to understand and make sense of these experiences and to perhaps identify gaps within an individual's social network. The analysis and methodology of the research was underpinned by a community psychology framework. Nine interviews were conducted with young Māori women who had become pregnant and continued with their pregnancy, all before the age of 20. The in depth interviews included questions focusing on the young women learning of pregnancy, the pregnancy, birth, caring for their child and their experiences with education and future plans. Negative experiences were usually those which involved unsupportive people. Positive interactions were those where support, of all types, was offered and useful to my participants and their children. Education was highlighted as the most effective way of providing a better life for adolescent mothers and their children. The research highlights the importance of social support and the continuation of education. Combining the efforts of positive social networks and social support services can improve the lives of adolescent Māori mothers and their children

Creating whanaungatanga: Kaupapa Maori support in the Psychology Department at the University of Waikato

Attendance at university has been recognized by some as a competitive environment that does not cater for the co-operative philosophy followed by many Maori. Within the Psychology Department at the University of Waikato there have been efforts since the Departments early days to place emphasis on the Maori cultural experience, but there were few Maori students and no Maori staff back then. Now, in 2004, the Department has a team of Maori staff and courses with Maori content at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Yet the environment that the students move in is still competitive. Grades are based on individual assessment through undergraduate level. At graduate level the emphasis on group dynamics comes to the fore. The availability and accessibility of Maori staff at different levels in a Kaupapa Maori programme provides one of the strategies of support for maori students at Waikato. This paper discusses the issues around managing, delivering and providing opportunities so that Maori students studying psychology feel supported for the duration of their time at Waikato University