Our 5 year Whakahā o Te Pā Harakeke programme is coming to a close next year. We have had a terrific number of outputs from this programme that have enabled us to continue providing a strong evidence base to support the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Goal. However, there is still much work to do in this space. As a result, we are very pleased to let you know about our recent success in securing grants for two new research projects:
Te Tupu o te Harakeke
The Te Tupu o te Harakeke research programme will run for 5 years. We received almost $5 million dollars in funding from the Health Research Council to conduct the programme, which will assess factors shaping the rapidly changing tobacco policy environment and identify opportunities to accelerate progress towards tobacco endgame goals. The programme includes integrated qualitative and quantitative studies, and a novel tobacco industry monitoring system. Māori centred studies will explore policies’ meanings and impacts, probe how rangatahi experience vaping and smoking, and explore measures that could elevate their influence on policymaking.
Te Hao Hou: Rangatahi Māori experiences and perceptions of smoking and vaping
Inspired by the whakataukī ‘ka pū te ruha, ka hao te rangatahi’ (‘when the old net is cast aside, the new net goes fishing’; often used to refer to intergenerational shifts in leadership), this project centres on elevating Rangatahi Māori voices, experiences, and perspectives in the development of tobacco and nicotine control policies.
This study was awarded a Health Research Council grant for just under $1.2 million and runs for 3 years. We will partner with up to 20 secondary schools and engage with rangatahi in various ways so we can understand what is happening in their world. Our mixed-methods approach is reflected in the three pillars of the study that will allow us to create a platform for rangatahi Māori voices, survey form-year cohorts of students, and conduct a range of qualitative activities like in-depth interviews, deliberate democracy hui and thought/space wananga to really delve into issues around vaping, tobacco, and nicotine. As researchers we will be led by and will support rangatahi in looking for opportunities for rangatahi themselves to take part in decision making processes, where we can explore their ideas or try to apply them.
The project is being led by Andrew Waa, Karyn Maclennan, and Lani Teddy. The team is supported by Micheala Pettie, Richard Edwards, and James Stanley. Alongside the schools, we are partnering with Research New Zealand and Hāpai te Hauora.
You can find out more about the study in Lani’s interview on Waatea News or Karyn’s interview with The Star.