Over the decades our governments have spent millions of dollars a year "fixing" people's health - the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, when most of the damage has been done. Much less time, recognition, energy and money is spent on holistic preventative care or support and promotion of healthy lifestyles.
I have been particularly impressed by sports psychologist and elite athlete trainer Dr Ihirangi Heke, who has a passion for Maori health and physical activity and wants to see changes in the way we view health and how we deliver health services in this country. His focus on providing culturally appropriate health services from a Maori viewpoint is a timely reminder of the need to reassess our health system, in particular our mainstream strategies aimed at Maori which have tried to "cure" rather than prevent illness.
More often than not the messages and strategies used to motivate Maori to change are based on mainstream frameworks and do not reflect a Maori world view or the realities for Maori today.
Dr Heke bases his approach on traditional Maori beliefs utilising concepts such as Atuatanga (environmentally based information), Kaitiakitanga (indigenous role models) and Tipua (esoteric knowledge) which acknowledge the interaction Maori had with the natural world. It was the depth of understanding of the physical and spiritual environments and knowledge of whakapapa that provided early Maori with the skills and knowledge to maintain health, to live in balance and to improve their physical, spiritual and psychological conditioning. These prepared them to face challenges including migration.
Like much of Maori society it was this in-depth understanding of their physical and spiritual environments that knowledge was sourced and used to inform their health and well-being. Rongoa Maori - use of native plants to heal and treat illnesses as well as karakia (incantations) and mirimiri (massage) are still in use today. Dr Heke reiterates how important the relationship was between Maori and atua where Maori observed the characteristics and personality traits of the atua, kaitiaki and tipua and then modelled their techniques of power, agility, speed and endurance on their observations. This influenced not only their physical wellbeing (tinana) but also their mental wellbeing (hinengaro) and spiritual (wairua) relationship to the environment.
