Massey University Departments

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Start date: 2020Subject: search.filters.subject.New Zealand

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    Tongan indigenous approaches in the prevention and restoration of family violence : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023) Havea (née Taufa), Sesimani
    Substantive literature exists on intimate partner violence and the efficacy of various response programmes. There is only limited knowledge of Pacific-indigenous understandings of and responses to violence within the kainga (families). This thesis explores aspects of the inaugural application of the Tongan conceptual framework of Fofola e fala ka e talanoa e kainga (laying out the mat so families can dialogue) as part of the faith-based Kainga Tu’umalie (prosperous families) family violence intervention and prevention programme in Aotearoa New Zealand. The programme is centred around weekend retreats involving Tongan households experiencing family violence. I was culturally immersed in observing, actively engaging in, and evaluating this programme during the retreats that involved 49 Tongan church kainga (families). Additionally, formal talanoa (a Pacific-indigenous way of engaging families in research) were conducted post retreat with seven faith-based community leaders to draw out their depth of cultural knowledge and how it was applied to the development and conduct of the programme. As well as drawing on the evaluative materials, talanoa were conducted with three participating families to further consider their experiences of the programme. Overall, this study found that Tongan indigenous cultural ways infused with faith-based values can be effective, transformational, and restorative for individuals and families experiencing violence. Core findings are encapsulated by three intersecting Tongan-Indigenous cultural concepts of: Ko e makatu’unga mo’ui mo e malohi (a powerful and living platform); Koe kolo malu mo e hufanga (a place of safety & refuge), and Fa’utaha (unity/harmony/peace). These concepts not only represent the interweaving of Christian faith and Tongan indigenous knowledge as symbolised by the Fofola e fala (laying out the mat) framework, but also inform our shared understanding of the intent and impacts of the Kainga Tu’umalie programme. These concepts also enlighten my analysis of the positive impacts of the programme on participating families’ and their commitments to engaging in efforts to transform their everyday interactions to create more harmonious relationships within which they can thrive together. Participant accounts foreground the importance and potential of working with key faith-based and cultural values to address patterns of violence collectively within Tongan kainga (families), and with support from wider community members. This research also speaks to the significance of leveraging collaborative partnerships between community-based agencies and faith-based communities in addressing social issues.
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    Kūkū : a re-imagined fangufangu developed through a Kakala Design Framework : a thesis is presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of : Doctor of Philosophy in Design, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, Ngā Pae Mahutonga, Pōneke, Aotearoa | Massey University, School of Design, Wellington, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 19 December 2025.
    (Massey University, 2024-09-23) Kaulamatoa, Rachael
    The fangufangu (nose flute) is a Tongan musical instrument that traces back hundreds of years. Each fangufangu possesses unique physical characteristics, contributing to its distinct sound. Highlighting its historical and cultural significance, one customary use was awakening nobility from slumber. Although rare today, practices of making and performing the fangufangu have been revitalized by Tongan communities in recent years. However, there is limited research on the fangufangu, particularly from a Tongan perspective. This practice-led creative research develops and applies a Kakala Design Framework to holistically and collaboratively explore possibilities of the fangufangu for modern musicians of the Tongan diaspora. The culmination of this research is embodied in Kūkū, a re-imagined fangufangu that enhances specific musical, tangible and visual aesthetics by harmoniously weaving notions of past, present and future. Through an analogue design approach, primary elements of form and material contribute towards enhancing instrument playability and sonic versatility to accommodate use across diverse musical environments and playing styles. Guided by an Indigenised industrial design process predicated on Tongan world-views and values, this exegesis reflects on the collaborative development of Kūkū with Tongan fangufangu practitioners.
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    “Broken” pathways : understanding the licensing experiences of overseas-trained medical doctors in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2024) Thomas-Maude, Johanna
    More than 40% of registered medical doctors in Aotearoa New Zealand received their primary medical qualifications overseas. Within this landscape, the pathways that international medical graduates (IMGs) must follow to achieve professional licensing depend on their background. This research explores IMG experiences of these processes using a capabilities approach to mobility justice, finding that although pathways to registration exist on paper, many are broken, unpredictable, and often unattainable in practice. General registration is available to doctors who completed their primary qualifications, or have worked for a minimum time period, in 24 high-income, Global North countries known as Comparable Health Systems (CHS). Other IMGs must apply for registration by taking a medical knowledge examination from the United Kingdom (U.K.), Australia, Canada, or the United States of America (U.S.A.), demonstrating English language competency, and taking the New Zealand Registration Examination (NZREX), which evaluates context-specific clinical skills. While completing these steps is time-consuming and costly, IMGs on the NZREX pathway are also required to complete two years of supervised work in local hospitals. First year positions, known as Postgraduate Year One (PGY1), are limited and prioritised for New Zealand medical graduates (NZMGs). As a result, a bottleneck has delayed or prevented many of these IMGs, typically originating from Global South countries, from finding PGY1 employment. This research addresses a knowledge gap by exploring the relationship between IMG experiences, professional outcomes, and their designated pathway to registration. An exploratory sequential mixed methods research design was employed, consisting of semi-structured interviews of IMGs (n = 24) and local experts (n = 9), an online questionnaire of IMGs (N = 80), and a document analysis of historical policies, grey literature, and media reports (N = 370), across three phases. The project was framed by a capabilities approach to mobility justice that evolved alongside the research design, data collection, and analysis. This theoretical approach considers what IMGs in Aotearoa New Zealand are able to “be” and “do” as migrant professionals, through four key components known as the 4Ps. The 4Ps comprise professional mobilities and capabilities, (inter)personal mobilities and capabilities, mobilities and capabilities in practice, and mobilities and capabilities power regimes. Combining empirical data with this theoretical lens highlights how medical registration pathways and policies contribute to uneven mobilities and capabilities among IMGs in Aotearoa New Zealand. Injustices are produced through misrecognition and the arbitrary exclusion of individuals who did not train in CHS countries. Such arbitrary exclusions, in turn, produce brain waste, whereby some IMGs already residing in Aotearoa New Zealand were unable to work as doctors, or experienced significant delays in registration, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation is detrimental not only to these IMGs, but also to the chronically under-resourced local medical workforce and, consequently, the broader population in need of healthcare. Furthermore, colonial vestiges can be seen to have contributed to a recurring cycle of policy changes, which have culminated in contemporary licensing policies strongly resembling those from 1905. To create more just pathways for registration for IMGs in Aotearoa New Zealand, this (post)colonial cycle needs to be examined, evaluated, and broken, paving the way for more equitable medical regulation.
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    "E lē ma’i, o le malosi!" = (He’s not sick, he’s strong!) : Pacific parents’ journey of raising autistic children in Aotearoa : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Albany, Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023) Nafatali, Rochelle
    Ministry of Health data estimates there are 4,000 Pacific children in Aotearoa New Zealand officially diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. This figure is likely underestimating the true prevalence of autism within Aotearoa Pacific communities, due to diagnostic disproportionality, and a lack of autism assessments completed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Children of Indigenous and ethnic minority populations globally tend to be diagnosed later, incorrectly diagnosed, or are not referred for autism diagnosis. Indigenous and ethnic minority parents regularly have their concerns dismissed by health professionals, face lengthy delays, and endure multiple attempts at diagnostic referral. Despite the growing autistic community globally, and Pacific peoples being the fastest-growing youth population in Aotearoa, Pacific peoples’ perspectives and experiences have not been included in autism research. Consequently, no reliable data exist on Pacific autistic people, and just six percent (6%) of eligible Pacific families are accessing Disability Support Services within Aotearoa. This first Pacific-led study (based on three Pacific-Indigenous research frameworks) focuses on Pacific parents’ expert knowledge from lived experience raising their autistic children, revealing key differences from a Pacific-Indigenous context in autism conceptualisation, support access, and language and culture maintenance. Fifteen Pacific parents of autistic children from the Pasifika Autism Support Group and Pacific community in Auckland Aotearoa, participated in eight research talanoa. Findings revealed parents sought an overall state of Diasporic Adaptation to Neurodiversity which involved acceptance, adaptation, and unlearning for Pacific parents. Four subthemes together explained the experience of Pacific parents of autistic children in Aotearoa: 1) Uncharted Islands: Understanding Autism; 2) Encountering Stormy Seas: Challenges; 3) Collective Unity through Relational Resilience; and, 4) Autism Support. Pacific-Indigenous knowledge and knowledge gained from Pacific parents was woven together to create the Tapasā a Tagata Sa’ilimalo (compass for people in search of success), which can be used for navigating the experiences of Pacific parents of autistic children within Aotearoa. Together with clinical implications provided, the Tapasā a Tagata Sa’ilimalo can guide clinicians, educators, and practitioners working with Pacific families of autistic children in Aotearoa to provide culturally appropriate, family-centred care and support prior to, during, and following autism diagnosis.
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    Māopoopo : a socio-cultural and collective understanding to improve wellbeing amongst Pacific people in Aotearoa/New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2021) Tuisano, Hana Salome
    The Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ) healthcare system, has, like many other colonising ‘Western’ societies, placed a strong emphasis on biomedical models and the physical aspects of ‘disease’. Yet, it is the more encompassing and holistic worldviews of wellbeing that historically and currently resonate most strongly with Indigenous peoples. As a South Pacific country, there are many Pacific peoples who now live in Aotearoa/NZ with multiple generations having migrated from their island homelands over a period of some 80 years. However, there are significant health inequities among Pacific peoples compared with other ethnic groups in Aotearoa that have been ongoing for decades – notably those conditions related to non-communicable disease. This thesis explores the socio-cultural and historical perspectives of Pacific peoples in order to expand understanding about how they view health and wellbeing, an area about which relatively little is known. These understandings have the potential to lead to improved service delivery models and contribute to better health outcomes for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa/NZ. The overall objective of the study is to identify and articulate the values and principles that promote and enable Pacific peoples’ wellbeing and health in Aotearoa/NZ. The aims of the study are to: • draw on Tokelau knowledge of the cultural, historical, and social environment to better understand the influences on Pacific health and wellbeing • examine strategies of health empowerment and wellbeing among Pacific youth, and • examine service delivery models that can lead to improved Pacific health outcomes. The Tokelau worldview of māopoopo was used as an overall principle to inform all phases of this study. Conceptually, māopoopo serves as a cultural connector with people, a motivator of action, and informs principles that guide behaviour in practice. Māopoopo as a practice in action is to restore peace and wholeness and to inform future thinking (lumanaki), which includes an inseparable relationship with te fenua (land) e laga kita ko te fenua (to be determined to look after the land). Māopoopo as a metaphysical state is described in relation to levels of the individual (te tino), the family (Kāiga), the village (te Nuku). Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were carried out with a total of 37 participants including Tokelau elders, Tokelau community leaders, Tokelau adults, Pacific youth, and Pacific health and policy workers between July 2016 and January 2017. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and the emergent themes applied in relation to māopoopo. There were seven key themes identified from this research. The first theme, kāiga (family), was interrelated with the values of loto alofa (kindness), fai kāiga (family orientated), fakaaloalo (respect), loto maualalo (humility), and loto fehoahoani (helping others). The second theme, duty of care (tiute tautua), related to traditional knowledge and the intergenerational transfer of that knowledge, particularly in relation to culture, land, and language. Maintaining family relationships (loto fai kāiga) was the third identified theme and fundamentally underpins and is interrelated with all the first five themes identified. The fourth theme, interconnectedness (fehokotakiga), highlights the breadth of relationships between people and understandings of interdependence as opposed to independence. The fifth theme, spirituality (olaga faka-te-agaga), recognizes the centrality of the church in Pacific communities. Health advocacy was the sixth key theme with the final key theme being the impact of inequities on Pacific wellbeing. This thesis identifies Māopoopo as being an inclusive research approach that can have benefits for Pacific peoples while also having the potential to be developed within health policies to facilitate focus on collective action through effective cross-government and intersectoral approaches. In this way, it could be utilized to ensure effective approaches to collaboration between the health care system and the social, housing, employment, and education sectors. This work highlights the value and utility of applying Pacific understandings of wellbeing to support and empower communities through their active inclusion from the design through to the implementation of services. There is a great need for increased reciprocity in the relationships between government agencies and Pacific communities. There was recognition of the need for the application of cultural practices and concepts into service delivery for Pacific peoples, such as provision of on-site bilingual health workers, and it is therefore imperative that core health delivery services are brought closer into alignment with the realities of Pacific communities, for example, through active engagement with churches. There are significant gaps in health services for Pacific youth. This population group are an energetic group and, most importantly, the fastest growing population in Aotearoa. This current generation plays a significant role in terms of health advocacy, thus, to ensure relevant and effective impact within communities, they must be central players and key informers in the development of any interventions/strategies focussed on Pacific health and wellbeing. Further studies may well be useful to scope or investigate the healthcare services available for Pacific youth. Associated with the position and role of youth within Pacific communities, is the largely untapped potential to utilise the unique skills and knowledge available through intergenerational approaches where the grandparents are the educators in terms of the passing on of cultural knowledge and values. Health services can be made aware of this important pathway by which knowledge is transferred and of the critical role grandchildren could have to change their grandparents’ attitudes towards health.
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    Values-based evaluative management : an integrated and adaptive approach to enhance inclusion, development effectiveness, governance, and sustainability : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2021) Averill, Catherine
    Sustainable development, an articulated goal of development practice in the 21st century (United Nations Development Programme, 2015a) now needs to be inclusive, based on multi-level systems of accountability, and have robust governance. This thesis proposes alternative evaluative management values and principles for inclusive sustainable development that are values-based, integrated, and adaptive. It suggests the way such values and high-level principles could underpin and reposition development, management, and evaluation approaches. An initial idea behind this research was that there needed to be a better way to connect strategic evaluative approaches within management and potentially the new sustainable development goals in international and national development. The impacts and significance of changes for both the broader development context and governance systems of country-level development, and the management and evaluation practices, were examined in the context of countries and donors in two Pacific settings: Papua New Guinea and Aotearoa/New Zealand. To achieve the sustainable development goals, current management theory and practices needs to be reconsidered. This research pointed to the emergence of evaluative management as an identifiable theoretical and instrumental discourse and knowledge frame repositioning and integrating existing management discourses underpinned by values and principles relating to strategic planning, performance management and governance. This thesis proposes that a new model of integrated management – called, in this context, evaluative management that is premised on three values (inclusion, partnership and participation) and three high-level principles (relationality, contextual sensitivity and adaptive response), is needed to underpin such considerations. The potential of evaluative management can only be realised if it is enacted through values and principles that are well communicated and widely understood. This may include effective interaction and communication between different levels of governments, agencies, sectors, regions and communities including non-governmental organisations, private sector, and development partners. This new model of integrated management would also provide the capacity to address inclusion, governance, accountability, and sustainable development with more effective strategic evaluative practices.
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    Synergising youth empowerment and co-design to transform Pasifika youth into agents of social change : a novel approach to advance healthy lifestyles in Pasifika communities : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health at Massey University, Wellington campus, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Prapavessis, Dani
    Current population health statistics demonstrate the need for innovative approaches to improve health outcomes and prevent non-communicable disease (NCD) for Pasifika peoples. This research builds off pilot studies on the effects of youth empowerment programmes to address obesity-related issues amongst Pasifika communities. It developed and tested an original model of co-design embedded within the youth empowerment framework of the Pasifika Prediabetes Youth Empowerment Programme. The programme was co-delivered with two community health service providers (one rural and one urban), employing Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methodology. N=29 youth (aged 15-24 years) participated in eleven educational and capacity-building modules that comprised the empowerment and co-design components during weekly sessions from MayOctober 2018. At the end of the programme, the model of co-design generated two individualised community intervention action plans to reduce prediabetes in their communities. This research employed a qualitative research design with four data collection techniques and thematic analysis to evaluate the effects of the tested programme. It used an original framework of social change to determine the impacts on the youth’s values, knowledge, and behaviours as well as the community organisations, and the socio-cultural norms of each community. It also explicated the contextual considerations of programme uptake in each location. Overall, this research illustrated that co-design is an effective addition to empowerment frameworks. It demonstrated how to operationalise co-design in a community-based setting with youth, and the tested model provided a practical framework to translate empowerment ii outcomes into the community. The programme analyses also led to a more nuanced understanding of social change. This research developed a concept of the process of social change that can be used to inform future programme development and evaluation. This research suggests future translations of the programme to maximise uptake and postulates different community contexts and settings for delivery, beyond Pasifika prediabetes prevention.