Our Kaupapa
Values
In everything we do, we want to ensure that we are closely connected, and work together, with consumers and whānau, researchers, clinicians and others in the health system. At the same time, we strive to optimise workforce development opportunities to develop Māori and Pacific research capability and capacity.
These are the values underlying our programme and hui. We draw inspiration from the contemporary framing of the Māori Star Compass and its markers developed by Polynesian navigator Nainoa Thompson (Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao, accessed August 2021).
Rā (Sun, represents motivation) - Research Excellence.
Our work is of the highest quality, we meet all deadlines, produce agreed research outputs and work within our budget. Our practice is reflective and we lead by example as we engage in mana-enhancing critique of ourselves.
Kāinga (Home, represents learning) - Valuing Māori and Pacific knowledge.
We value and privilege Māori and Pacific ways of knowing, doing and being.
Ngoi (Indicators, represents evidence) - Strengths and resiliency-based approaches.
We recognise, build on and maximise the strengths and resiliencies of Māori and Pacific whānau and communities.
Manu (Soaring Birds, represents excellence) - Action-driven research.
We look at issues from different perspectives and reconstruct them in positive and implementable ways.
Ngā Rangi (The stars, represents role models) - Seeking workforce development opportunities; collaborative.
We seek out and use all available opportunities to develop Māori and Pacific research capability and capacity. We are closely connected, and work together, with consumers and whānau, researchers, clinicians, managers and others in the health system.
Ngā Reo (The voices, represents leadership) - Whānau-centred.
We ensure that whānau are at the centre of the research and that people with lived experience, and their whānau, are afforded a powerful voice in telling the story about what works best.
Haka (The challenge, represents managing our blind spots) - Optimal balance of quantitative and qualitative approaches.
We use the right balance to understand the ‘what, why and how’ of equitable heartcare approaches and strategies. We are open to mana enhancing critique, particularly where ‘we don’t know what we don’t know’.
Equity Roadmap - A Journey
An important output from our programme is the development of a Quality-Improvement-Equity Roadmap, which will outline a plan to reduce access barriers to evidence-based heart health care along the patient journey. However, this will not be your typical roadmap.
Our ancestors were skilled navigators, making their way across the Pacific using the location of stars, the direction of the sun and moon, and through measuring ocean currents. In a similar way, our journey to this equity roadmap will be guided by Māori and Pacific wisdom and ways of knowing and being.