Lay summary
This research focuses on Maori wellbeing from a whanau-centred and tribal-centric perspective. This project will research cultural connectedness as an indicator of whanau health and wellbeing. It will analyse cultural connectedness through generational experience, connection to Kingitanga or the iwi, and for whanau located within marae clusters.
It recognises the connection between health and wellbeing and the interdependence between whanau, at both the collective and individual levels. The research will help to build the evidence-base about the relationship between cultural connectedness (in its various forms) and wellbeing.
The research will be coordinated by the Waikato-Tainui College for Research and Development and implemented by researchers from Waikato-Tainui marae clusters. The College will synthesise and analyse the research within a tribal cultural framework (the Niho Taniwha).