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
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Date
2020
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Massey University
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Abstract
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
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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.
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Keywords
Pacific Islanders, Youth, Health and hygiene, New Zealand, Health promotion, Social change