Zealand Context Research Articles

A case study of PavMD a new tool to identify good performing pavements in New Zealand

With the advancement of digital technology, the collection of pavement performance data has become commonplace. The improvement of tools to extract useful information from pavement databases has become a priority to justify expenditures. This paper presents a case study of PaveMD, a tool that integrates multi-dimensional data structures with a data-driven fuzzy approach to identify good performing pavement sections. Combining this tool with an innovative paradigm where the focus is on repeating success can bring additional value to existing pavement databases. The case study shows that PaveMD can identify pavement sections that are performing well by comparing performance measures for the New Zealand context. In this paper, PaveMD’s development is described, and its implementation is showcased using data from the New Zealand Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) database. It is recommended that this approach be further developed and extended to other infrastructure databases internationally.

Psychometric evaluation of the mental health continuum-short form (MHC-SF) in a New Zealand context – a confirmatory factor analysis

Psychometric evaluation of the mental health continuum-short form (MHC-SF) in a New Zealand context – a confirmatory factor analysis

‘Where oh where is the data?‘: Identifying data sources for hydrometeorological impact forecasts and warnings in Aotearoa New Zealand

Early Warning Systems are a key component to building preparedness and response capacities to hydrometeorological hazards that continue to affect people worldwide. Notable historic events have revealed gaps in current hazard-based warning systems. Impact Forecasts and Warnings (IFWs) have been proposed to fill these communication gaps by re-centring the warning thresholds and language around the consequences, or impacts, of the hazard(s), rather than just the physical characteristics. However, research has shown that implementing IFWs requires not just hazard data, but also data on impacts, vulnerability, and exposure to understand the risk of impacts.Using Grounded Theory Methodology, we conducted a series of interviews with users and creators of hazard, impact, vulnerability, and exposure (HIVE) data to identify data sources and understand how these data are collected and created to support the implementation of IFWs. We focus the study on the New Zealand context to support the country's efforts towards implementing IFWs.Our findings indicate that many sources for HIVE data exist that are collected for other uses (such as for disaster/emergency response efforts, and for research) and have relevant applications for IFWs. Our findings further suggest that priorities, motivation, and interest within organisations influence how well data is collected. Moreover, agencies tend to prefer official data, but official data has limitations that unofficial data may address, such as timeliness. To that end, a tension exists between the timeliness and trustworthiness of data needed for emergency response and warnings.

Sojourning as a wife, a mother and a daughter: a critical autoethnography of a Vietnamese doctoral student in New Zealand

ABSTRACT This study is a critical autoethnography in which I recorded how I, as a Vietnamese student pursuing a doctoral degree in New Zealand with accompanying children, navigated between cultures and learned to raise children to be well adaptive to the New Zealand context and at the same time sustained the bond with the Vietnamese heritage. Based on theories of transnationalism, space and place, I explored my own spatial production and place-making process during my first year of candidature when my family had just entered New Zealand. Going beyond the description of the conventional enculturation and the detailed account of social and academic challenges that are normally found in previous literature on international doctoral students, the paper focuses on the way I myself got used to spatial practices outside Vietnam, the way I grew to become ‘a cultural translator’ for my parents, the way I made my home a space of cross-cultural exchanges and inter-generational legacy inheritance. In that sense, my motherhood, daughterhood, and studenthood entangled in a complex network of different cultures, lifestyles and social structures. The paper also features a shift in family dynamics and the reconfiguration of power in a Vietnamese family in New Zealand.

531 - Dementia prevention and utilising the “teachable moment” in the New Zealand context

Dementia is a debilitating disease with wide-reaching impacts. Up to 40% of dementias are estimated to be preventable through modifiable risk factors, which is essential as no disease-modifying treatments are currently available. A literature review was performed using the OVID database, Google Scholar, and following references. Dementia as a key word was combined with the following key words: education, prevention, risk reduction, risk perception, family members, adult children, health promotion, behaviour change, Maori Health, health literacy, healthy aging, behavioural intervention, attitudes, teachable moment, psychoeducation.

“Doing it Our Way” Participation and Kinship in Traditional Surrogacy Narratives in Aotearoa New Zealand

The practice of traditional surrogacy gives rise to multiple discourses around women’s autonomy and kinship practices globally. In the Aotearoa New Zealand context, traditional surrogacy (where the surrogate donates her own egg as well as gestating the foetus) is legal only on an altruistic basis. Furthermore, it is subject to neither medical nor state oversight, unlike gestational surrogacy which is heavily regulated. Drawing on three years of ethnographic research, this article focuses on both traditional surrogates in Aotearoa New Zealand who have children of their own and those who have chosen a childfree life. Their narratives reveal multilayered motivations that align with and diverge from the ‘help’ narrative often associated with altruistic surrogacy. By drawing on and contributing to current debates on surrogacy globally, I show that traditional surrogates take on their role with clear ideas about kinship and different interpretations of reproductive participation. Their narratives bring to the fore the under-researched topic of traditional surrogacy, and in particular of women who do not want children of their own but choose to donate their eggs and gestate the foetus for another woman. I argue that their negotiation of stigma to make/resist kin disrupts pervasive heteronormative modes of kinship.

Trust in Government and Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

The long-term success of New Zealand’s Covid-19 elimination plan and the re-opening of fortress New Zealand rests on high population uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine. Understanding factors that contribute to vaccine hesitancy – and potential inequities in access and uptake – are consequently essential for the efficacy of the national immunisation programme which began rolling out to the general population in July 2021. Prior research on the New Zealand context has documented socio-demographic disparities in Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy (Horizon Research, 2020; Prickett, Habibi and Atatoa Carr, 2021; Thaker, 2021). However, little research has been undertaken to examine how psychosocial elements – such as people’s trust in institutions – might be associated with people’s vaccine intent and cast some light on the reasons underpinning their intent.

Big data analytics for clinical decision-making: Understanding health sector perceptions of policy and practice

The introduction and use of ‘big data and analytics’ is an on-going issue of discussion in health sectors globally. Healthcare systems of developed countries are trying to create more value and better healthcare through data and use of big data technologies. With an increasing number of articles identifying the value creation of big data and analytics for clinical decision-making, this paper examines how big data is applied, or not applied, in clinical practice. Using social representation theory as a theoretical foundation the paper explores people's perceptions of big data across all levels (policy making, planning, funding, and clinical care) of the New Zealand healthcare sector. The findings show that although adoption of big data technologies is planned for population health and health management, the potential of big data for clinical care has yet to be explored in the New Zealand context. The findings also highlight concern over data quality. The paper provides recommendations for policy and practice particularly around the need for engagement and participation of all levels to discuss data quality as well as big-data-based changes such as precision medicine and technology-assisted clinical decision-making tools. Future avenues of research are suggested.

Rethinking Public Law in a Time of Democratic Decline

The thirteen separate segments of this article are designed to explore the consequences for New Zealand public law of the global decline of democracy in many parts of the world, although not in New Zealand. The trend towards autocracy is evident in many countries and has been increasing. There was a time when democracy was thought to be inevitable, but that time has passed. Since New Zealand is a small and open society, democratic rot and decline could set in, as it has in other democracies. In order to combat these tendencies, it is necessary to think about the implications of these developments for teaching public law and for the need to bolster education in citizenship, so people can better understand the advantages of democracy, participate in it and feel a commitment to it. Many New Zealanders not born here may not understand the culture, may not have English as their first language and may be discouraged from engagement. New Zealand is increasingly diverse.The article explores the recent history of the United States and to a lesser extent, the United Kingdom, to discern the tendencies at work in those democracies. Returning to the fundamental elements of public law, it is suggested that the analysis begins with the nature and character of the state, followed by international law. Then it is argued it is necessary in the New Zealand context to examine the situation of Māori, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the activities of the settler governments and the remaining consequences of colonisation. There appears at this time to be an opportunity to more significantly recognise indigenous Māori culture. From there, an examination of some important principles of political philosophy is provided. This leads to a summary of the main types of government that are available for any state. Then are set out the main political ideologies that often impel political actors. The changes in democratic practice that have resulted from the digital revolution are then examined with the effects upon political parties and how they have changed New Zealand. The manner in which public opinion can be manipulated and the need to become literate in politics and political practice is emphasised. The article concludes with a discussion of public law as an autonomous discipline and a final conclusion about what all this means for New Zealand. In the mind of the author, after a long career in public law and politics, these separate elements combine into a message about the need for democratic refurbishment and future vigilance in New Zealand.

Flexible and innovative learning spaces: An exploration of parental perspectives on change, consultation and participation

The role played by innovative educational environments to support learning for the 21st century has attracted the interest of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development at the global governance level and at the national policy level internationally. This article draws on global, European and Australasian research and data from a qualitative study of consultation and participation in the development of innovative and flexible learning spaces in the New Zealand context. It focuses specifically on the role of parents, drawing data from relevant policies and documents, a parent questionnaire and interviews of parents, architects and Ministry of Education Delivery Managers, responsible for delivering large capital works projects. While the architect participants believe their bold designs are inspirational and promote new pedagogical styles, and positive relationships, some parents view these open-plan learning areas (and associated pedagogies) as needlessly experimental, placing the needs and education of their children at risk. Delivery Managers are focussed on seeing the projects to conclusion, on time and on budget. The critical analysis considers the findings in relation to the research question and reflects on the dual themes of innovation and risk. Further questions for research are suggested.

Fertility stakeholders' concerns regarding payment for egg and sperm donation in New Zealand and Australia.

New Zealand and Australia are countries which currently prohibit donor payment and require open-identity forms of donation. This study explored the concerns of fertility stakeholders regarding payment which would constitute financial reward for gamete donation, and factors predicting such concerns. A total of 434 participants from across New Zealand and Australia completed an online survey anonymously. Participants included those with infertility and treatment experience, donors, recipients, donor-conceived people and clinic professionals. Results indicated that participants’ concerns related to their assumptions about the type of donor motivated by financial reward, and the possibility that, if paid, donors might conceal information relevant to treatment and the donor-conceived person. Furthermore, participants were concerned about increasing recipient costs. Participants with personal experience of infertility held stronger concerns overall. Professionals expressed concerns of clinical relevance, such as the withholding of donor information relevant to treatment outcomes. The lowest levels of concern were expressed in relation to payment devaluing the meaning of human life. Qualitatively, themes highlighted concerns regarding payment enticing the ‘wrong’ type of donor, increased cost to recipients, and concern about the wellbeing of donor-offspring. Collectively, such concerns must be understood against the New Zealand and Australia open-identity donation context which enables the possibility of contact between donors and offspring. These findings indicate that donor recruitment campaigns need to account for different stakeholder concerns, and consider ways to address donor shortages effectively while remaining compliant with legislative requirements.

A study of work stress and coping among primary school teachers in the Wellington region

This research examines the perception of work stress among primary school teachers in the Wellington region. Specifically, it focuses on the way teachers perceive work stress, the contributing factors and the coping strategies employed. Interpretative phenomenological analysis is the qualitative approach and methodology chosen to examine the way teachers make sense of their stress experiences. The educational sector in New Zealand has undergone enormous legislative and organisational change and in the recent past there have been nationwide primary school teacher strikes. While research on teacher stress in New Zealand in relation to the 1989 major reforms has been published, there has been little recent qualitative research on work stress in primary school teachers.
 This study shows that these teachers experience moderate to high levels of stress because of work overload, the multiplicity of sources of stress, the emotional demands of the role and the frustration and constraints they face in role performance. Even so, these teachers derive satisfaction from the core job of teaching and utilise positive coping strategies to manage their stress and work demands, with most of them intending to stay in the role. However, the sustainability of the role of teaching is a concern, as societal misperceptions about teaching and lack of respect for them pose challenges for those continuing in the profession long term. This study contributes to the base literature on teacher stress in the New Zealand context and offers recommendations for supporting the well-being of primary school teachers.

Kinship organizing metaphor: The influence of Maori managers on New Zealand organizational practice

We draw on qualitative data of 15 interviews of Maori managers to theorise the concept kinship- style organising. . The study offers a case of how implicit images held within the cognitive structures of Maori managers are influencing wider management practices in New Zealand. Emerging from and grounded in the data, we make a unique contribution to management theory by providing three conceptual categories; structuring in kinship, including wisdom, fostering interaction, and ten managerial practices, that contribute towards a theory of kinship style organising particular to the New Zealand context.

Kei tua o te awe māpara/Beyond the mask: Māori language teaching in English-medium secondary schools in New Zealand

The New Zealand Curriculum Framework (Ministry of Education, 1993, p. 14) states that "[all] who learn te reo Māori help to secure its future as a living, dynamic, and rich language". However, I will argue here that appearance and reality are very far apart. Close examination of the context in which teachers of the Māori language operate tells a very different story, one characterised byinadequate consultation with teachers and communities, a lack of consistency between the advice provided in the curriculum guidelines document and the resources made available to teachers, and a failure to ensure that adequate pre- and inservice training is provided. Finally, as a way forward to help strengthen policy and inform Indigenous language teachers, a reflection onlessons learnt in the New Zealand context and some useful Indigenous language strategies will be provided.

Women Who Inject Drugs (WWID): Stigma, Gender and Barriers to Needle Exchange Programmes (NEPs)

Global evidence suggests that experiences of access to Needle Exchange services are gendered and that women who inject drugs (WWID) access needle exchange services differently to men. Despite being a significant proportion of injecting drug users, women’s voices and experiences have often been silenced in studies around harm reduction service provision, hampering the development of harm reduction services for WWID. This article highlights the experiences of four women and one trans man who have previously injected drugs, in accessing needle exchange programmes (NEPs) in a New Zealand context. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were carried out with five participants and thematic analysis of the interviews produced three core themes: how stigma permeates WWIDs’ lives; barriers in accessing needle exchange services; and how experiences within a drugs context are gendered. Stigma was an overwhelming issue affecting WWID which also acted as a barrier to their access of NEPs. The WWID in our study in terms of Goffman’s original theorizing were “doubly discredited” as well as “precariously discreditable” due to their gender and injection drug using status. The participants keenly felt their stigmatized status through interactions with pharmacy-based needle exchange staff, perceiving that pharmacy staff viewed them as more contaminated than their male counterparts. Gendered relationships were also noted in injection practices, although initiation for this group of WWID was done by intimate partners as well as friends, dispelling the stereotype of WWID as passive victims. Some participants also learnt to self-inject which gave them a sense of empowerment and freedom as they did not have to rely on others to help them. The social structures that support stigmatizing tropes about WWID need to be addressed as well as more local interventions to prevent stigma in NEPs, alongside women focused services.

Commissioning a Visual Legacy: Louis John Steele and Sir John Logan Campbell

In 2017, Louis John Steele’s portrait of Sir John Logan Campbell at Kilbryde, c.1902, emerged on the auction market after over a century in private hands. It is a fascinating portrait of one Auckland’s earliest and most celebrated Pākehā citizens. The portrait is Steele’s most ambitious portrait and shows him creatively adapting the British aristocratic portrait tradition to the New Zealand context. No commissioning documents have been traced for the portrait, however a close reading of the painting alongside Campbell’s papers reveal it is filled with highly personal symbolism. The provenance of the painting is also uncovered through this research. Examination of the Kilbryde portrait with Steele’s five other portraits of Campbell demonstrates Campbell’s desire to leave a lasting visual legacy.

Staying at home: the potential cost savings related to triage advice provided by the New Zealand National Poisons Centre

Introduction Evidence from multiple countries suggests poisons centres create value in several ways including the provision of expert clinical advice, decreased hospital length of stay and triage of exposures enabling safe management without further medical utilisation. Data specific to the New Zealand context are lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate one aspect of poison centre value, namely the potential savings to the health system related to triage advice provided by the New Zealand National Poisons Centre (NZNPC). Methods A prospective survey was conducted over a 2-week period where eligible NZNPC callers – who were advised their exposure did not require further medical assessment – were asked what alternative action they would have taken in the hypothetical absence of the NZNPC. The potential cost savings associated with the alternative actions respondents would have taken were calculated using publicly available information and extrapolated to the population level using annual NZNPC call numbers for 2019. Results Among 554 eligible callers, 399 were recruited to participate and 396 provided responses. The single most common alternative action was “search the Internet” (54/396, 14%). In-person medical assessment would have been sought by 25% (100/396), and 39% (154/396) would have called an alternative provider within the healthcare system. The estimated cost associated with alternative actions for the study period was NZ$25,637. When extrapolated to the 2019 year, the potential savings from avoided healthcare utilisation was NZ$1,061,551. Conclusion In 2019, in the absence of NZNPC triage advice, a conservatively estimated NZ$1,061,551 would have been spent on healthcare related to poisoning exposures that were appropriate for management without further medical utilisation. It is important to note that this estimate is only one aspect of the total value created by the NZNPC and is consistent with findings of value from other poisons centres internationally.

Young people who engage in child to parent violence: an integrative review of correlates and developmental pathways

ABSTRACT Objective Review and synthesise Australian and New Zealand research on correlates and predictors of child to parent violence. Method Ten electronic databases were searched for relevant empirical studies. An integrative review methodology was adopted, with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool used to assess methodological quality. Results Twenty-one relevant studies met the inclusion criteria. Assessment of methodological quality revealed a moderate level of bias resulting from small sample sizes and a lack of representative sampling, missing outcome data, definitional variations, and inconsistencies in categorising variables across studies. The primary factors identified as correlates were prolonged or early childhood exposure to adult intimate partner violence and adversity, a childhood behavioural pattern of aggressive behaviour, mental health or emotional or behavioural disorders, other criminality and negative peer associations. Conclusion Extracting and understanding developmental pathways in the Australian and New Zealand context that contribute towards child to parent violence was limited by the amount and quality of research. Thus, highlighting the need for further research in this field. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: A small amount of research has been conducted in Australia and New Zealand relating to child to parent violence. The factors contributing to a young person engaging in child to parent violence are complex and interrelated. Exposure to adult intimate partner violence in childhood is a known correlate of child to parent violence. What this topic adds: This is the first integrative review of Australian and New Zealand evidence on child to parent violence. While childhood behavioural and emotional disorders were identified as correlates for young people engaging in violence towards parents, this research evidence is not strong. This review reveals a need to examine further the developmental pathways towards child to parent violence, identifying points of intervention best suited to service engagement.

Student Articulations of Critical Multicultural Education Concepts from One Study Abroad Experience in New Zealand

This study examines how six teacher candidates in one U.S. based teacher preparation program articulate understandings of critical multicultural education concepts after a field experience in a study abroad program in New Zealand. Teacher candidates were interviewed about their understandings of culture, privilege, and social inequality. Field placements were in high poverty elementary schools with high numbers of linguistic and ethnic minority students. Teacher candidate responses revealed development of cultural appreciation but a lack of engagement with issues related to privilege and social inequality. Teacher candidates further had difficulty articulating issues of power and systemic privilege enacted either in the New Zealand context, or in their home cultural context in the United States. This study calls for more explicit support for teacher candidates as they grapple with recognizing and practicing a Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in order to realize the potential of diverse study abroad field experiences for teacher preparation.

Modelling New Zealand Road Deaths

New Zealand is developing an integrated road safety intervention logic model. This paper describes a core component of this wider strategic research carried out in 2018: a baseline model that extrapolates New Zealand road deaths to 2025. The baseline will provide context to what Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is trying to achieve. It offers a way of understanding what impact interventions have in acting with and against external influences affecting road deaths and serious trauma. The baseline model considers autonomous change at a macro level given social and economic factors that influence road deaths. Identifying and testing relationships and modelling these explanatory variables clarifies the effect of interventions. Time-series forecasting begins by carefully collecting and rigorously analysing sequences of discrete-time data, then developing an appropriate model to describe the inherent structure of the series. Successful time-series forecasting depends on fitting an appropriate model to the underlying time-series. Several time-series models were investigated in understanding road deaths in the New Zealand context. In the final modelling an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model and two differing autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models were developed. A preferred model was identified. This ARDL model was used to project road deaths to 2025.