Keynotes
Black/Brown Lives Do Matter: Research Addressing Change
Prof Bev Lawton, Centre for Women’s Health Research, Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington
We live in a country where disparities are normalised. It’s acceptable for our pēpē (babies) and māmā to be harmed and to die and our tane (men) to be incarcerated. As Aotearoa New Zealand moves to a health system with an equity focus opportunities for radical change arise. System and individual behaviour changes will be at the core. What is our role as researchers? How do we add the voice of our communities and bring about the necessary change? This presentation will bring together our mahi (work) to contribute to these answers. We ask – what are the voices of our whānau and what can we do together to bring about change?
Biography: Professor Bev Lawton, nō Ngāti Porou, is the founder/director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine (the Centre for Women’s Health Research) at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington (previously with the University of Otago). Prior to this, she worked as a general practitioner for 17 years and co-founded the Wellington Menopause Clinic. These experiences led to an interest in research to answer the many questions relevant to women’s health and inequalities. Her subsequent research on women’s and children’s health has led to changes in policy and practice in New Zealand and internationally. This includes the establishment of the Severe Maternal Morbidity (SMM) monitoring program in Aotearoa New Zealand, improved systems for maternal health with regards to post-partum contraception, accident and emergency management of SMM and the establishment of the SMM audit in Sri Lanka.
Bev is currently the Principal Investigator of He Tapu Te Whare Tangata, a project that gives Māori ownership of the process of instigating this innovative HPV screening using a community research partnership model. She is a member of the HPV Testing for Primary Screening Project Technical Reference Group (National Screening Group), Māori Health Committee – He Hono Wahine, and of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
In recognition of her contributions to women's health, in 2005 Prof Lawton was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit by the Queen of England for services to women’s health. In 2017, she was made a Distinguished Fellow of the Royal College of General Practice.
Māori Women’s Rangatiratanga in Critical Health Psychology: Blending Intellectual, Intuitive, & Collaborative Lines of Inquiry
Dr Jade Le Grice, Department of Psychology, University of Auckland
In this keynote I discuss some of the productive tensions that have shaped my work across kaupapa Māori projects exploring Māori (Indigenous) reproduction, sexualities, and rangatahi (youth) wellbeing. My locatedness as a Māori women, of Ngāpuhi and Te Rarawa iwi (tribes), raised in an urban context on different tribal lands, has intuitively informed an approach that seeks to make meaning of the complexity of Indigenous subjectivities that are shaped by intergenerational Indigenous wisdom, as well as afflictions of the colonial project. Speaking into specificities of our experiences as cultured and gendered beings, what needs, issues and considerations arise? How might vectors of marginality surface discomforts and issues that are important to Māori women, as distinctive from Māori men? Considering these questions requires moving beyond conceptual boundaries of strengths based or deficit-based analyses towards an understanding of how Māori women agentically navigate social pressures, and of the rangatiratanga of Māori women to speak to issues that have personal and collective resonance.
Biography: Dr Jade Sophia Le Grice, is from the hapu Ngai Tupoto (Te Rarawa) and Ngati Korokoro, Ngati Wharara, Te Pouka, Te Mahurehure (Ngāpuhi). She is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland and has also worked as a Research Officer at Te Roopu Whariki, Massey University. Drawing upon kaupapa Māori research, Jade's work situates mātauranga Māori, the diversity of Māori culture and identity, and the lived experiences of Māori people, within a local psychology context. She researches sexual and reproductive decision-making and interrelated domains of sexuality education, reproductive health, and abortion. She is currently engaged in work that explores the sociocultural contexts of rangatahi (young people's) wellbeing, and the negotiation of sexual agency in intimate relationships. Jade is inspired by Māori people working in community, for mana motuhake and their aspirations for future generations. Her work informs academic publications, psychology curriculum, and health policy.
Jade is embedded in a range of community initiatives that seek to realise tangible and transformative change, including Nga Kaitiaki Mauri, of Te Ohaki a Hine: National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together & He Paiaka Totara, a network of Maori Psychologists. She is also involved in research communities as a member of the University of Auckland’s Critical Theory network, Gender Studies network, Māori and Pacific Psychology Research Group, and Psychology and Social Issues Group. She is a co-chair of the Māori and Pacific Psychology Committee at The University of Auckland, and an Editorial Board member of MAI Journal.
Tagata o le Moana (People of the Sea)
Dr Teuila Percival, University of Auckland
We come from 22 Pacific islands and territories and have taken our people and our vibrant cultures to the world. We share the strength and beauty of our “heartland” the Pacific Ocean. Our challenges are many with disparities in health, household income and education in Australasia and the region. Our most pressing priorities are inequity and of Climate Change which is an ever present and growing threat. We look forward, activating for social and health justice but we must hold on to our past and traditions and take care of our ocean and lands.
Biography: Dr Teuila Percival is a New Zealand-born Samoan, hailing from Ofu in Manu’a and Pu’apu’a in Savaii. She works as a Consultant Paediatrician and Senior Lecturer in the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland. Teuila's interests lie in Pacific people’s health, Maternal and Child Health, Child Abuse and Community Paediatrics. Her considerable work in the Pacific health sector was recognised in 2006 with a Pasifika Medical Association Service Award and in 2010 she became a companion of the Queen’s Service Order for her services to the Pacific community.
Teuila has extensive research expertise in Pacific health research. Her portfolio includes being the principal investigator on the Pacific Child Health Indicators project in the Pacific; OPIC 2, the family-based intervention for Pacific children project; research on rheumatic heart disease in Samoa and respiratory tract infections in children under two in South Auckland. She is also engaged in community work both in New Zealand and the wider Pacific, including: clinical work at KidzFirst Children’s Hospital (South Auckland) and paediatric clinical work in Samoa, Niue, Tokelau, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
Teuila has held a number of leadership positions in the Pacific health sector, including: Director of the Pasifika Medical Association (PMA); Chair of the South Seas Healthcare Trust; Deputy Chair of the Pacific Panel for Oranga Tamariki (Child Welfare); and Director of the Pacifika Medical Association. She has served on several government health advisory groups and World Health Organisation Emergency Medical Teams. She played a key role in the establishment of Pacific health providers.