Haumanu Hauora | Health responses for Māori

Haumanu Hauora was a 2-year research project that worked to understand existing policy processes and ascertain the extent to which health institutions give serious consideration to climate change impacts on Māori health vulnerabilities.

In speaking to tāngata whenua (Indigenous Māori), rangatahi (Indigenous Māori youth) and District Health Board (DHB) staff it became clear that processes were not only ad hoc, they also problematically silenced consistent Māori input. Tāngata whenua and rangatahi expressed their experiences of, and aspirations about, dealing with climate change, such voices were not found within DHB policy processes.

There is a clear deficit in the existing policy process that will mean a lack of preparedness for the intersecting health crises that vulnerable Māori will experience in the face of climate change. Despite clear resilience and adaptation strategies, structural change is needed to address identified disadvantages. Through a collaborative partnership, we co-designed a policy framework (“Haumanu Hauora”) to guide policy formation to mitigate risk to Māori (and others) in the context of climate change.