Background: Māori are the Indigenous people of Aotearoa (New Zealand). Despite global acceptance that cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable through vaccination and screening, wāhine Māori (Māori women) are more likely to have cervical cancer and 2.5 times more likely to die from it than non-Māori women.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cervical cancer is caused by high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV). Testing for high-risk HPV is a more sensitive screening method than cervical cytology for detecting cervical changes that may lead to cancer. Consistent with recent evidence of efficacy and acceptability, Aotearoa New Zealand plans to introduce HPV testing as the primary approach to screening, replacing cervical cytology, from mid-2023.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe burden of health inequities borne by Indigenous peoples can be overwhelming, especially when mothers and newborns' lives are at stake and health services seem slow to invest in responsiveness. In Aotearoa (New Zealand), urgent action is required to eliminate persistent systemic inequities for Māori (Indigenous) whānau (family collectives that extend beyond the household). This Kaupapa Māori (by Māori, for Māori) qualitative study aimed to explore the views of health practitioners identified as champions by whānau of preterm Māori infants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Choosing Wisely seeks to prevent harm by reducing the number of unnecessary tests, treatments and procedures, and by promoting shared decision-making. This article scopes perspectives of Māori patients/consumers and Māori health practitioners around Choosing Wisely and explores shared decision-making between Māori and their medical practitioners.
Methods: Eight Māori consumers and seven Māori health practitioners participated in a qualitative, semi-structured, in-depth interview study with an inductive thematic analysis.
Aims: To describe a body of Māori translational research responses that challenge colonialised systems.
Methods: To delineate and link ongoing Kaupapa Māori and Māori-led translational research.
Results: He Tapu Te Whare Tangata explores human papilloma virus (HPV) screening.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
September 2021
Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) bear an unequal burden of poor perinatal health outcomes, including preterm birth. An infant arriving preterm disrupts the birth imaginary of whānau (family collectives) and situates them in a foreign health environment that may not be culturally safe and nurturing. A cross-sectional interpretative phenomenological analysis of first interviews with 19 whānau participating in a Kaupapa Māori (by, with, for Māori) qualitative longitudinal study of preterm birth identified themes from their experiences and the meanings they attributed to them.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To develop an in-depth understanding of HPV self-testing cervical screening clinical pathways for never-/under-screened Māori women.
Methods: Based on a community-based cluster randomized controlled trial in Aotearoa (New Zealand), a Kaupapa Māori (by Māori, for Māori) qualitative study enrolled Māori women who met the eligibility criteria of the HPV trial intervention (aged 25-69 years, no screen in >4 years). In total, 28 were recruited (22 had a negative test, six had a positive test and colposcopy).
In this call to action, a coalition of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, United States and Canada argue for the urgent need for adequately funded Indigenous-led solutions to perinatal health inequities for Indigenous families in well-resourced settler-colonial countries. Authors describe examples of successful community-driven programs making a difference and call on all peoples to support and resource Indigenous-led perinatal health services by providing practical actions for individuals and different groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAchieving the World Health Organisation (WHO) cervical cancer elimination target of fewer than four new cases per 100,000 woman-years requires scaling up HPV vaccination of girls, cervical screening, and pre-cancer and cancer treatment. We reviewed data from four high-income colonised countries (Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), and the United States (US)) to identify how each is currently performing compared to the cervical cancer incidence elimination and triple-intervention targets, nationally and in Indigenous women. We also summarise barriers and enablers to meeting targets for Indigenous women.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Indigenous women in the high-income countries of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and USA, have a higher incidence and mortality from cervical cancer than non-Indigenous women. Increasing cervical screening coverage could ultimately decrease cervical cancer disparities.
Aims: To increase cervical screening for under-screened/never-screened Māori women.
A research partnership between Iwi (tribal group) Ngāti Pāhauwera and a university-based research centre specialising in Kaupapa Māori (by Māori, for Māori) research was formed in response to an invitation from Ngāti Pāhauwera. The initial partnership goal was to address health inequities experienced by Māori women and infants in Te Wairoa (the home place of the Iwi), a predominantly Māori, rural region in Aotearoa (New Zealand). The research developed by the partnership is an example of a culturally responsive research methodology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Human papillomavirus (HPV), the causative agent of cervical cancer, can be screened for using self-collected vaginal samples (self-testing). This may overcome barriers to screening for Māori women who suffer a greater burden of cervical disease than New Zealand European women.
Aims: This study aimed to explore the potential acceptability of HPV self-testing for never/under-screened (self-reported no cervical screen in 4+ years, aged 25+) Māori women by Kaupapa Māori (by, with and for Māori) mixed methods, involving hui (focus groups/interviews) and survey.