Community, Maori, Racism
Unlawful Uruwera raids as a health promotion issue
Operation Eight as a health promotion issue
Let’s look at why Operation Eight is an issue for health promoters. Firstly we need to look at the Māori concept of hauora. Professor Sir Mason Durie describes the four crucial factors of hauora as the four walls of a whare:- taha tinana; physical wellbeing
- taha hinengaro; mental and emotional wellbeing
- taha whanau; social wellbeing
- taha wairua; spiritual wellbeing.
- peace
- shelter
- education
- food
- income
- a stable eco-system
- sustainable resources
- social justice and equity.
The role of health promotion
According to HPF’s Deputy Executive Director Trevor Simpson (himself Tūhoe) there is a lot health promoters can do; both to help address the raids’ effects on the community, and to prevent such effects in the future. The work falls into three categories;- to speak out about the impact of such injustices on the health of a people;
- to support those who are working to address them and
- to help build a society that has no tolerance for such abuses upon any community.
- Employ Māori health promoters to work in the community to regain self-determination, hauora and a revitalised sense of community.
- Use the health promoting schools framework in the local schools to empower students and their whānau to seek the conditions they need for hauora.
- Have health promoters help with health providers and other services to engage with the residents of the community in a culturally appropriate way to address their trauma.