Who’s health matters? : an autoethnographic study of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Health Psychology) at Massey University, New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis explores the human experience of pandemic governance through the lens of critical health psychology and autoethnography. Focusing on Aotearoa New Zealand’s Covid-19 response, it examines how health, risk, and responsibility were socially constructed and how vaccine mandates reframed questions of autonomy, vulnerability, and belonging. Methodologically, the thesis adopts an autoethnographic approach, combining personal narrative with critical analysis to situate lived experience within wider cultural and political contexts. Part I outlines the theoretical framework, drawing on critical health psychology to interrogate how health is socially constructed, whose health is prioritised, and how power operates through public health measures. It also addresses ethical considerations and reflexivity in undertaking research that is both deeply personal and socially contested. Part II presents and autoethnographic account of navigating Aotearoa’s Covid-19 mandates, told through narrative, poetry, and visual art. Each chapter begins with an original poem that sets the thematic tone, framed within seasonal metaphors to symbolise both the passage of time and the cyclical nature of crisis and renewal. This creative dimension is extended in a textile-based visual representation: ten canvases adorned with crochet appliqués, linked by a crocheted ribbon as a symbolic road. The installation concludes with a butterfly – representing transformation and release. Together, these creative elements highlight the interpretive and meaning-making dimensions of autoethnography, demonstrating how lived experience can be communicated through both text and art. The thesis contributes to scholarship by demonstrating how vaccine mandates functioned not only as public health interventions but also as technologies of power, producing new boundaries of inclusion and exclusion. It highlights the tensions between individual autonomy and collective wellbeing and underscores the need for public health approaches that acknowledge structural inequities, honour tino rangatiratanga, and support those adversely affected by mandates. In doing so, it shows how critical health psychology and autoethnography together can illuminate the lived complexities of health governance during crisis – and how creative inquiry can act as a pathway toward understanding, resilience, and healing.