It's not special treatment… That's part of the Treaty of Waitangi! Organisational barriers to enhancing the Aged Residential Care environment for older Māori and Whānau in New Zealand.

Background: New Zealand's older Indigenous Māori people experience poorer health and reduced access to healthcare than their older non-Māori counterparts. Organisational factors (such as leadership or workforce) may influence the attitudes and perceptions of older Māori and their family (whānau) to use aged residential care services. Currently, there is a paucity of research surrounding the organisational barriers that impact the experiences of older Māori people who seek care in aged residential care (ARC) services.

Patients' and carers' priorities for cancer research in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Background: Discrepancies have been reported between what is being researched, and what patients/families deem important to be investigated. Our aim was to understand research priorities for those who live with cancer in Aotearoa/New Zealand, with emphasis on Māori.

Methods: Adult outpatients with cancer and their whānau/family completed a survey (demographics, selecting keywords, free-text comments) at Christchurch hospital.

Psychosocial and financial impacts for carers of those with eating disorders in New Zealand.

Background: Eating disorders (ED) can have profound effects on family members and carers. These impacts can be experienced across multiple domains and may contribute to the maintenance of ED symptoms. In the absence of any New Zealand studies quantifying this, and given country-specific differences in access to care and treatment, this study explores the psychosocial and economic impacts on those caring for someone with an ED in New Zealand.

Eating disorders in New Zealand: Implications for Māori and health service delivery.

Objective: Lifetime prevalence rates in Te Rau Hinengaro (The New Zealand Mental Health Survey) suggest eating disorders are at least as common in the Māori population as the non-Māori population, yet little is known at a population level about those accessing specialist mental health treatment for eating disorders in New Zealand. The aim of this study was to describe the population undergoing specialist mental health treatment for eating disorders and compare Māori and non-Māori clinical characteristics and service use.

Method: This study uses the Programme for the Integration of Mental Health Data data set, managed by the New Zealand Ministry of Health to describe the characteristics of people with eating disorders and their use of specialist mental health services from 2009 to 2016.

Is there systemic bias for Māori with eating disorders? A need for greater awareness in the healthcare system.

The New Zealand Mental Health Survey, Te Rau Hinengaro, indicated that eating disorders are at least as common in Māori as non-Māori, which is consistent with international findings that eating disorders exist in other indigenous and ethnic minority groups. Specific factors may be relevant to the development and treatment of eating disorders in the Māori population. We suggest this may include differential exposure to risk factors, the impact of acculturation, changing body image ideals and systemic bias reducing access to treatment and research participation.