Parental substance use disorders (SUDs) for Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa/New Zealand and an ethnic minority, are considered to be contributors to adverse effects on outcomes for their children. This article offers a review of international and Aotearoa literature in regard to key considerations for Māori parents with SUDs who present to an Alcohol and Drug specialist for assessment and treatment. Factors to increase positive outcomes for Māori children of parents with SUDs are promoted. Effective adult AoD services provide support to parents with SUDs through comprehensive assessment and intervention plans that consider both individual and familial risk and protective factors. In this context, it is imperative that possible child welfare issues are identified early to ensure prevention or intervention. The AoD workforce must have the knowledge and skills to facilitate access to other relevant sectors, such as education, employment, and housing. An AoD workforce that is effective with Māori must not only have these abilities, but also have at least some basic knowledge and skills in Whānau Ora philosophy and Whānau-centered best practice. To address these processes, AoD specialist services need to acquire a set of knowledge and skills. These include increasing the knowledge and skills associated with the realities of lifestyles centered in low socioeconomic communities and co-occurring issues that contribute to poor health outcomes. To assist Māori, several key processes are proposed. This includes working in a Whānau-centered approach with Whānau as a collective entity, based on Māori foundations; understanding intergenerational dynamics; and endorsing a group capacity for self-determination. Research and training in Whanau ora philosophy and Whānau-centered best practices will be essential for developing an appropriate AoD workforce, which would provide the foundations for improving AoD service delivery for Māori parents with SUDs.
The capacity of Indigenous communities to respond collectively to crises consistently shows the importance of shared traditions values and practices and genealogical ties. Government responses to traumatic events that affect whole communities tend to be generic in their scope overlooking the significant strengths and resources held by Indigenous peoples. This study presents a Kaupapa Māori case study of collaborative efforts to respond to traumatic events between several communities of local tribes, immigrant tribes, and tau-iwi (non-Indigenous people). Concentrated on a rural community prone to flooding, this study examined community efforts to provide support for those affected by flooding in the Southern Rangitīkei area of New Zealand. Key informants included 10 Indigenous community leaders (ICL), and 22 health and social service community practitioners. Four key themes were identified: Collective aspirations mobilise in traumatic events; genealogical relationships bring people together; collective leadership drives the vision; and Indigenous values inform responses to traumatic events. A salient outcome was that shared historical connection, and shared aspirations for cultural regeneration activated Indigenous communities to engage in collective action. Key barriers and enablers to collective action between Māori and tau-iwi are presented. Recommendations for analysing further responses to trauma in Indigenous communities are proposed.
The COVID‐19 pandemic of 2020 has had significant impacts on communities and infrastructures across the globe. Indigenous health experts have called for culturally responsive Government support to mitigate pre‐existing inequities and vulnerabilities in Indigenous communities. In Aotearoa New Zealand, official responses to the pandemic typically reflect the worldviews of the settler majority, while Māori interests are treated as part of the national concern. Using autoethnographic, Indigenous voice and an Indigenous wellbeing model, Whiti te Rā , this article contributes insights into Māori cultural values as they were reported in online platforms during the Level 4 lockdown period of March–July, 2020. The authors recorded multiple examples of Māori cultural values and practices that offered individuals, families and communities a digital‐social space of safety and hope to build relational resilience, and to mitigate the effects of the COVID‐19 lockdown. Observations and responses aligned to the model's six dimensions of relational wellbeing: Māori language, the natural environment, spirituality, creative and performing arts, family (and extended family) values and genealogical connections. The observations highlight that Māori have a multigenerational approach to crisis management based on ancestral wisdom and experience that can inform Government responses.
Research on collaboration between health and social service organisations and professions often views collaboration from the narrow perspective of being between practitioners from different professions at a set point in time. This is often also focused on issues of efficacy and does not address the role of identity, values, and practices, or “culture” within collaboration, an important aspect when engaging with indigenous populations. This study presents a Kaupapa Māori qualitative case study in a small rural community, which highlights how western culture has permeated within and across a health care system. Recommendations are made to guide Crown and other western health and social service organisations and practitioners in first understanding the ongoing history of people and place, and its impact on health and social practice, and how to engage with Māori in a way that affirms, enables, and where requested supports a for Māori by Māori approach to wellbeing.
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