Getting to the heart of Māori and Pasifika patients

Vaea Ulima Tofi. Photo/ Supplied, New Zealand Heart Foundation
A Māori-Samoan physiotherapist is researching ways to better support Māori and Pasifika through heart-related health concerns.
Vaea Ulima Tofi (Ngāti Maniapoto, Rongowhakaata, Tufulele Vaipuna), who holds the matai title Vaea from Matāutu Apia in Samoa, noticed the current system was not suitable for Māori and Pasifika patients.
He said some specialists and services had not been properly translated from “medical speak” to common language, making it difficult for some to know what the next steps are.
“If I’m feeling like an alien even though I’ve got a physio degree, then other whānau who don’t have the tohu [degree], that must be tenfold.”
With mātauranga Māori and Pasifika knowledge, Tofi will focus on how medical professionals deliver services, how to retain indigenous staff, and what needs to change to ensure communities are served equitably.
“There’s no magic bullet, there’s no secret ingredient that we’re missing,” he said.
He aimed to narrow down the issues for whānau, aiga, kāinga, and kōpū tangata living with heart disease.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in New Zealand, with Māori having a higher hospitalisation and mortality rate than non-Māori.
While cardiovascular disease and other heart conditions are preventable, some risks cannot be controlled such as age, gender, family history, and ethnicity.
Tofi is a firm believer of “if you can see it, you can be it”, but the very few Māori and Pasifika cardiac medical professionals did not cut the mustard.
“Heart health is one of the biggest burdens that we carry as a people as a community as Māori, as Pacific, in New Zealand.”
He hoped to understand why Māori and Pasifika go into those roles, what sustained them in the Pākehā environment and what protected them.
But before he dived deep into understanding where the links are missing, he will be doing full immersion te reo to open his thinking.
“Growing up around it a little bit, it was always an itch that I couldn’t quite scratch. It has been in my heart for a long, long time to deepen my understanding of myself, my culture, that part of me.”
“Studying will give me a korowai to be able to go into the next thing a little bit taller, more patient, more robust, more equipped.”
His study is supported by a three-year fellowship from the NZ Heart Foundation.