Challenging structural racism through the development of equity-driven core Māori hauora ā iwi/public health competencies for university hauora ā iwi/public health teaching

Abstract

ABSTRACT In Aotearoa New Zealand, significant health inequities persist between Māori (the Indigenous people) and non-Māori. These ethnic-based inequities are intrinsically linked to Aotearoa New Zealand’s colonial and colonising racist history. Decolonising health systems imbued with racist ideology, and mitigating inequities, is foundational to improving the health outcomes of Māori and Indigenous peoples worldwide. Social justice and equity are internationally recognised core values and functions of the discipline of hauora ā iwi/public health and, more recently, recognised as acting against racism. Tertiary institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand that offer hauora ā iwi/public health as a programme of study have an obligation to improve Māori health and reduce inequities through their teaching. This project aimed to provide a set of core Māori hauora ā iwi/public health competencies, which can be used to support Indigenous equity-focused, anti-racist hauora ā iwi/public health curricula for tertiary institutions, locally and internationally. This paper reports the process of developing a novel set of core Māori hauora ā iwi/public health competencies (as a framework that can be delivered by both Māori and non-Māori/non-Indigenous health academics), designed and set within their international context of educating for Indigenous health equity as well as the Aotearoa New Zealand hauora ā iwi/public health context.