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Partnering with whānau to address inequities to pain management

Year:
2020
Duration:
18 months
Approved budget:
$91,689.00
Researchers:
Dr Hemakumar Devan
Health issue:
Other (generic health or health services)
Proposal type:
Health Delivery Research Development Award
Lay summary
Chronic or persistent non-cancer pain affects one in five New Zealanders. Persistent pain disproportionately affects Māori and their whānau. Māori face significant inequities in accessing specialist pain services and experience stigma and stoicism in expressing and managing pain. Community programmes co-developed with Māori empower whānau and hapū fostering healthy behaviours. Our previous community engagement has identified the need for a kaupapa Māori (by Māori, for Māori) pain support programme that prioritises kanohi-ki-te-kanohi group-based interactions. Hosted in Capital and Coast DHB Pain Management Service, this placement will allow me to develop and deepen my own clinical skills needed to provide pain services and to lead a collaborative project with Tu Kotahi Māori Asthma and Research Trust as a clinician-researcher. The dual aims of this fellowship are to gain clinical skills in pain management and to support the co-design of a Māori pain support programme for whānau with persistent pain.