Exam Preparation: Maori Values in Health Settings

Exam Preparation: Maori Values in Health Settings

Values & Their Interconnections

• Values are interconnected. All the lines drawn between the various values indicates that they are interrelated in various ways.

• Wairuatanga is central and foundational. Everything feeds into it. It is a key value and one of the main priorities in M[=a]ori culture.

• Clusters of values:

  • Kotahitanga, Whanaungatanga, Manaaki Tanga: Relational values, highlighting the social dimension, interactions, and connections to others.

  • Rangatiratanga: Has political context.

  • Wairuatanga: A cultural value of fundamental importance, linked to Maori thinking about Wairua as an elemental essence.

Key M[=a]ori Concepts

• Whakapapa: The view of reality as interconnected, where everything is connected.

• Kaitiakitanga: Focuses on the connection of people to the environment and that kinship relationship. It informs a particular ethic or a way of being in relation to the environment.

• Humans depend on the natural environment (Papatuanuku, Rangi Nui), which obligates caring for all akin, including the natural environment.

• Kaitiakitanga focuses on preserving the M[=a]ori of the natural environment which is central to the exercise of Mana Whenua.

Tangas

• The values are loosely known as the Tangas. There are other connected/interwoven constructs/concepts.

Values Table Activity

• The goal of the activity is values application in a health setting.

• The core of cultural competence is being values-informed in approach and encounters with people.

Table Columns:

1. Value

2. Brief description/definition

3. Notes around what it might look like

4. How to incorporate it (practices/actions to enact values)

Scenarios and M[=a]ori Values Demonstrated

The following are real world experiences within the health system with the goal of identifying what values can be seen or what is evident.

Scenario 1

• A young M[=a]ori patient seemed to receive less care.

• A M[=a]ori staff member thought the patient felt a connection with her because she was M[=a]ori

• Some nurses are more personable and create better connections than others.

• Values Demonstrated:

  • Whanaungatanga: Making connections/relationship building between nurse and patient.

  • Manaakitanga: Care; looking after one another.

Scenario 2

• Whanau (family) was present to support a father in the hospital.

• Staff seemed less likely to check on the patient when whanau were present.

• Values Demonstrated:

  • Whanaungatanga: The whanau are there to provide support. They are caring and demonstrating their obligation to care for their family member.

  • Kotahitanga: Partnership/sense of solidarity around the patient; mutual focus for both whanau and staff, uniting around the common kaupapa/father's well-being.

Scenario 3

• Patients and families like to sing Waiata (songs) and Karakia (prayers), but some nurses prevent this.

• Values Demonstrated:

  • Wairuatanga: Singing/Waiata/Karakia.

  • Rangatiratanga & Mana Motuhake: Being able to be self-determining and have self-management.

Scenario 4

• Whanau stayed with a patient at night, had Karakia every night, and brought in M[=a]ori Kai (food) like boil-up.

• Values Demonstrated:

  • Wairuatanga: Karaoke/spiritual connectedness/faith/belief.

  • Rangatiratanga & Mana Motuhake: Families were bringing food the patient enjoyed. Allowing a sense of self-management/control with the patient's health.

  • Manaaki Tanga: Giving care to those in vulnerable places.

Scenario 5

• Staff at M[=a]ori health unit have Karakia twice a day.

• Patients often request Karakia.

• Values Demonstrated:

  • Wairuatanga: Karakia.

  • Whanaungatanga & Kotahitanga: Karakia is used as a source of spirituality and faith to come together and pray. Provides a sense of community.

Scenario 6

• An experience of a social worker where some Pākehā (non-M[=a]ori) comrades didn't believe in Whakam[=a]imiti (M[=a]ori word for Karakia) and connection to Wairua.

• The M[=a]ori world is holistic, not compartmentalized.

• Values Demonstrated:

  • Whanaungatanga: Respect.

Scenario 7

• Whanau filling in gaps in the delivery of care to patients; whanau diary/notes for continuity of care across the different shifts.

• Values Demonstrated:

  • Manaakitanga & Kotahitanga.

  • Rangatiratanga & Mana Motuhake: Being very involved and being like a part of the team to ensure recovery and getting well to come home, basically.

Scenario 8

• Greeting M[=a]ori patients using Te Reo (M[=a]ori language) and pronouncing names correctly.

• Values Demonstrated:

  • Whanaungatanga.

  • Manaaki Tanga.

Exam Tips

• There will be three values on the sheet.

• Define those values and give examples of how these things would be demonstrated or insured in some sort of health interaction.