Epidemiology

Kaupapa Māori Epidemiology in Health Research – Finding our own standards

Bridget Robson, Fiona Cram, Shirley Simmonds & Gordon Purdie, Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora Māori a Eru Pōmare, University of Otago, Wellington

Funder: Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, University of Auckland

Timeframe: 2007

Epidemiology is a tool used to shape policy, purchasing, evaluation and planning. Tools used in epidemiology may inadvertently better serve the interests of the numerically dominant population. This study critiqued and aimed to refine standard statistical tools and the way they are utilised, in order to better serve the interests of indigenous peoples. It focused specifically on methods of age-standardisation, confidence intervals, and other methods for adjusting for age. It also sought to develop safer processes for reporting, interpreting, and disseminating health data, in order to reduce the colonising aspects of quantitative research. This project will be of interest to health researchers and agencies, as well as other epidemiologists, Māori researchers and government agencies interested in Māori-non-Māori disparities.

Publications

Robson, B., Purdie, G., Cram, F. & Simmonds, S. (2007). Age standardisation – an indigenous standard? Emerging Themes in Epidemiology. An online journal published by BioMed Central.

Simmonds, S., Robson, B., Cram, F. & Purdie, G. (2008). Kaupapa Māori epidemiology. Round Table: New Zealand epidemiology. Australian Epidemiologist, 15.1, 3-6.

Related Publications

Robson, R. & Harris, R. (Eds.), (2007). Hauora: Māori standards of health IV. A study of the years 2000-2005. Wellington: Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare.

Keefe, V., Ormsby C., Robson, B., Reid, P., Cram, F. & Purdie, G. (1999). Kaupapa Māori meets retrospective cohort. He Pukenga Kōrero, 5, 12-17.