Learning from Māori Research to Improve First Nations Women’s Health

By Dr Katharine Brown

I am so grateful to have received a Stroke Foundation Future Leader Grant. This funding gave me an amazing chance to learn and grow in my work. I traveled to Aotearoa New Zealand with a senior Aboriginal Health Practitioner to learn from Māori researchers' ways of mahitahi - Māori way of working together. This experience has helped us improve how we work with Aboriginal women, leading to stronger and more effective programs.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, we spent three days in Auckland at a leading Indigenous heart health centre. There, we saw how Māori and Pasifika women are involved in research and were warmly welcomed by the Heart Foundation NZ. We then traveled to Tauranga and Whakatane, where we spent five days with a Māori health and research team. We visited different healthcare services and learned about their models of care.

This trip has changed the way our team works. Instead of figuring things out on our own, we learned from Māori researchers who have been doing this for a long time. Their knowledge has helped us create programs that are safer and more effective for Aboriginal women, focusing on heart and brain health. We also formed strong connections with our Aotearoa New Zealand colleagues, which has already led to new projects together.

On a personal level, this opportunity has strengthened my relationships within my team and expanded my connections worldwide. Our visit to Aotearoa New Zealand helped create a growing international group focused on Indigenous women’s heart and brain health, including members from Canada. We will continue working together, with a meeting planned in Sydney in June 2025.

I am also working with our Aotearoa New Zealand hosts on a research paper about Indigenous heart and brain health, which could be very important in this field.

The Stroke Foundation Future Leader Grant has changed my career. It has given me the knowledge, connections, and opportunities to grow as an independent researcher. But the impact goes beyond me, it has improved how we work with Aboriginal women and will lead to better health outcomes.

To everyone who supports the Stroke Foundation, thank you! Your generosity makes programs like this possible, helping the next generation of leaders improve stroke and heart health care. Please continue funding the Future Leader Grants - they truly make a difference!

Katharine Brown, Karrina DeMasi & Aunty Regina Williams at the mahitahi, Heart Foundation NZ, Auckland