Abstract
Introduction: Long-term conditions data for Pacific people show unchanged outcomes over several decades. Research suggests that models of care that recognise diverse understandings of health and wellbeing have benefits for people with long-term conditions and their families and help address longstanding health disparities.
Aim: To explore Pacific people's understandings of health and wellbeing and, within this context, to examine concepts related to long-term conditions models of care.
Methods: A narrative review was conducted using broad search terms in key clinical and social science databases and manual searches of Pacific-focused publications to ensure extensive coverage of topics of interest. The methods were well suited to exploring experiential, conceptual themes often underrepresented in systematic reviews.
Results: Eighteen studies produced over a more than 25-year period (1997–2024) were included. The studies describe values and beliefs that form holistic conceptualisations of Pacific health, centred around family and grounded in a collective sense of wellbeing. They provide insights about how these understandings intersect with socioeconomic and environmental factors to shape context-specific experiences of care for Pacific peoples.
Discussion: The reviewed studies highlight the 'lived with' effects of long-term conditions that Pacific people and their families experience. They illustrate how the goals of long-term condition models of care, however desirable, may not seem beneficial or feasible for Pacific families if they neglect other dimensions of wellbeing, or fail to consider constraining contextual factors. Literature that challenges conventional concepts in long-term conditions models of care potentially support appropriate approaches for Pacific people and their families.