Integrating Māori and Pacific cultures to advance heart health

Published: 24 September 2024

Researching the integration of Māori and Pacific cultural values into heart health is the focus of Vaea Ulima Tofi, a Māori Samoan researcher and recipient of the Heart Foundation Māori and Pacific Research Fellowship.

With the support of a three-year fellowship from the Heart Foundation, Vaea Ulima Tofi (Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Maniapoto, Tufulele, Vaipuna), who holds the matai title Vaea from Matāutu Apia in Samoa, will investigate how to integrate Māori and Pacific cultural values into heart health to support Māori and Pacific heart health professionals currently working in the sector. 

Ulima’s research will focus on understanding the experiences and needs of the Māori and Pacific workforce and their families, highlighting their unique challenges and strengths. He hopes to make careers in heart health more attractive and accessible to Māori and Pacific people. He says, “If you can see it, you can be it.”

“By focusing on culturally safe practices and developing culturally safe environments we can empower our heart health professionals and make cardiovascular services more accessible, effective and natural, especially for communities that have been overlooked and underserved for too long,” Ulima says.

His research is based on the belief that a workforce that reflects the communities it serves can make a huge difference in improving health outcomes. Ulima will explore how services, training institutes and health organisations can better support and integrate Māori and Pacific cultural knowledge and wisdom.

He says the research isn’t just about collecting data, it’s about lifting the voices and aspirations of Māori and Pacific communities. 

Ulima will draw on mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and Indigenous Pacific wisdom to make a real difference for whānau, aiga, kāinga and kōpū tangata living with heart disease. 

His research will also focus on improving how heart health services recruit, retain and support Māori and Pacific staff, ensuring these systems are more aligned with the needs of the communities they serve.

As he begins this important research, Ulima hopes to address the systemic issues that cause health inequities. His research will not only help grow the Māori and Pacific health workforce but also highlight the social and societal factors that affect heart health. 

Kataraina Davis, Chief Advisor Māori at the Heart Foundation, says in Aotearoa, New Zealand, heart disease remains one of the leading causes of death among Māori and Pacific communities. 

“Focusing on the needs and aspirations of these communities paves the way for more equitable and responsive health care and services for all New Zealanders,” she says.