Mrs Genevieve Choi1,3, Associate Professor Holly Teagle1,2, Professor Suzanne Purdy1, Dr Andrew Wood1,3
1The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, 2The Hearing House, Auckland, New Zealand, 3Te Whatu Ora, Health New Zealand – Waikato , Hamilton, New Zealand
Biography:
Genevieve is currently completing her Ph.D. at the University of Auckland. She has previously completed a Bachelor of Neuroscience and a Master of Audiology at the same university, before going on to a decade of clinical work in both private and public sectors in New Zealand. The clinical work and her Ph.D. reflect her ongoing interest in early life brain development. The Ph.D. is focused on improving ethnic and geographical equity of the New Zealand EHDI programme, including the medical work up for infants diagnosed with hearing loss.
Abstract
New Zealand and Australia are colonized nations with indigenous populations. In New Zealand, disparities exist between Māori and non-Māori in the provision of services within the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Programme. For the past 50 years, the majority population in New Zealand has been Pākehā (non-Māori, typically of British descent), resulting in health systems, including EHDI, being designed from a Western worldview. This has created access barriers for Māori infants and their whānau (families). Māori are disproportionately represented among infants with permanent hearing loss, exacerbating the impact of inadequate access. To improve access to EHDI programmes and achieve equitable service provision, it is crucial to understand the cultural worldview of Māori. There is a substantial body of literature authored by indigenous Māori researchers utilizing Kaupapa Māori methodology, which emphasizes cultural safety. As part of her Ph.D. research, Genevieve, a non-Māori pediatric audiologist, conducted a literature review of this research and performed her own study using a Kaupapa Māori informed approach. Her study involved semi-structured interviews with Māori whānau in a rural region of New Zealand. The qualitative thematic analysis of the interview transcripts provides insights into how EHDI programmes can better engage Māori infants and whānau. These insights may also be applicable to indigenous populations and minority ethnicities in other countries.