Abstract
Due to a disastrous history of colonisation, Māori are yet to enjoy the same level of health care access and outcomes as most other populations in Aotearoa. Major ongoing factors include service costs, racism, and practice environments and customs that are not familiar or welcoming. Physiotherapy is no exception. For example, despite higher rates of injury for Māori, utilisation of ACC-funded rehabilitation services including physiotherapy is much lower.
Kaupapa Māori health services are designed by Māori, for Māori, and use mātauranga Māori. They are designed with the knowledge of the way in which Māori will flourish best. Resource redistribution is also a goal of the wider social transformation sought by these initiatives. Kaupapa Māori health services are becoming more familiar in Aotearoa. However, Western biomedical knowledge and systems are still privileged, making it difficult to have mātauranga-evidenced interventions recognised by funders and decision makers. Both biomedical outcomes and those that align with Māori health world views have been demonstrated by Kaupapa Māori interventions. Evidence is also in the experiences of Kaupapa Māori health service designers, providers, and recipients.
In this focused symposium we gather experiences of Kaupapa Māori in physiotherapy practice to share learnings, celebrate successes, and help us look to the future. We introduce some of the theoretical underpinnings of Kaupapa Māori in practice to better understand what it is that is being done. This then prepares a space for exploring perspectives, navigating obstacles, and beginning to define our foundations for growing and enabling Kaupapa Māori physiotherapy practice.
"Ko te manu e kai ana i te miro, nōna te ngahere. Ko te manu e kai ana i te mātauranga, nōna te ao."
(The bird who feeds on the berries, the forest is his. The bird who feeds on knowledge, the world is his.)