About this research
PhD Researcher: Ebony Komene (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue, Tapuika) (UoA)
Primary supervisors: Dr Sue Adams (UoA)
Project summary:
Ebony’s PhD research will explore the contribution of Māori nurse practitioners and opportunities to transform Primary Healthcare services within Aotearoa. Current health system changes call for solutions to persisting Māori health inequities, a known breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. International rangahau shows an Indigenous workforce is key to enhancing Indigenous health outcomes. Therefore, meaningful transformation necessitates collaboration with Māori practitioners and communities to Indigenise Primary Healthcare (PHC). Māori Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are uniquely positioned to offer impactful PHC services to Indigenous communities. NPs have an advanced scope of practice that provides health outcomes equal or better than their medical colleagues. This care is provided peripheral to the western business model of PHC, successfully integrating nursing and medical knowledge in a whānau-centred design. Evidence indicates whānau prefer a representative workforce. However, only 9% of NPs identify as Māori, contrasting the 17.4% Māori population. Emphasizing the inherent and inherited contribution of Māori NPs is essential for meeting the PHC needs of whānau, hapū, and hapori. Although growing evidence highlights the transformative roles of NPs as medical and nursing professionals, there is a need for research that focuses on the Indigenous contributions of Māori NPs. Undertaking Kaupapa Māori research on the contribution of Māori NPs within PHC paves the way for innovative strategies to redesign PHC in Aotearoa and other Indigenous communities.
Ebony’s PhD research will explore the contribution of Māori nurse practitioners and opportunities to transform Primary Healthcare services within Aotearoa.
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Dr Alayne Mikahere-Hall
Dr Alayne Mikahere-Hall
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This research programme dives beneath the surface to expose how efforts to address racism in Aotearoa can be symbolic, sidelining Māori worldviews and limiting true transformation.
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Associate Professor Donna Cormack
Associate Professor Donna Cormack
Donna has been involved in work on the collection and classification of ethnicity data in New Zealand, particularly as it relates to measuring and monitoring disparities. Most recently, Donna has been focused on work examining disparities in cancer outcomes and access to cancer services for Māori. She is involved in the Differential Colon Cancer Survival by Ethnicity in New Zealand project as well as Unequal Treatment: The Role of Health Services with Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare. -
Professor Sarah-Jane Paine
Professor Sarah-Jane Paine
Professor Sarah-Jane Paine (Tūhoe) is a leading Māori health researcher and internationally respected authority on Indigenous child wellbeing. She is Research Director and Principal Investigator of Growing Up in New Zealand, Aotearoa’s flagship longitudinal study of child development, and a Professor at Te Kupenga Hauora Māori, Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.Her work in Kaupapa Māori epidemiology has influenced national policy in maternal and child health, racism and child wellbeing, food security, and youth wellbeing. Known for combining scientific rigour with strong community… -
Professor Papaarangi Reid
Professor Papaarangi Reid
Papaarangi is Tumuaki and Head of Department of Maori Health at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand. She holds science and medical degrees from the University of Auckland and is a specialist in public health medicine. She has tribal affiliations to Te Rarawa in the Far North of Aotearoa and her research interests include analysing disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous citizens as a means of monitoring government commitment to indigenous rights. -
Associate Professor Ricci Harris
Associate Professor Ricci Harris
Dr Ricci Harris (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tahu) is a public health physician and Research Associate Professor at Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare. She has research expertise in Māori health, epidemiology (including quantitative aspects of Kaupapa Māori research) and the investigation and elimination of ethnic health inequities in New Zealand. This has included research into the classification of ethnicity, ethnic disparities in health status and receipt of health services, and the impact of social determinants (e.g. SES and racism) on Māori health and inequities. Her current… -
Dr Arama Rata
Dr Arama Rata
Arama is of Ngāti Maniapoto, Taranaki, and Ngāruahine descent. She completed her PhD in Psychology at Victoria University of Wellington in 2012, which focused on Māori cultural engagement, identity, and psychological well-being in State secondary schools. Arama then lectured at Te Kawa a Māui (the School of Māori Studies), where she received a Research Establishment Grant to study Māori collective remembering of the New Zealand Wars. Dr Rata is currently involved with research relating to Māori health experiences, Māori in rural communities, as well as iwi consultancy. -
Hana Burgess
Hana Burgess
Hana (Ngäpuhi, Te Roroa, Te Ätihaunui a Päpärangi, Ngäti Tüwharetoa) (she/her) is doing a PhD in Mäori health, with supervision from Donna (Käi Tahu, Käti Mämoe) (she/her) and Papaarangi (Te Rarawa) (she/her)
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