A new partnership between Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi and the University of Auckland’s Centre for Brain Research (CBR) aims to improve mate wareware (dementia) care for Māori communities.
Research has begun in Northland with researchers knocking on doors to find out how whānau can weave tikanga Māori into the caring of those who have been diagnosed.
Dr Makarena Dudley (Te Rarawa), whose background is in neuropsychology, says mate wareware is a concern because statistics show Māori show signs eight years earlier than non-Māori.
“I’ve spoken to many, many kaumātua round the motu and they’ve said to me that when they go to the doctor ‘and they’re talking about this thing, mate wareware, they never ask me about how I feel, spiritually, or my wairua’.
“Yet that’s the most important part of me and I don’t think Pākehā or non-Māori clinicians are taking this on board and they don’t understand.”
As part of her team’s research over the next six months, she will not refer to mate wareware as dementia anymore because dementia has negative connotations in the Western world.
Protective factors
She says many non-Māori and non-Pacific communities send their elderly to rest homes and hospital care once they’re diagnosed.
But keeping loved ones at home and taking them to as many social activities such as being on the marae or events can help slow down its progress, she says.
“I think by engaging with things on the marae, or a marae type of environment, even with just being with other kaumātua, that’s a protective factor from that cognitive decline.
“It could also for those who don’t have mate wareware but are getting on. I believe it’s also a protective factor in terms of keeping at bay the onset of mate wareware,” she says.
“Dementia statistics show Māori are more likely to be affected, and our research indicates that by 2026, around 4,500 Māori in New Zealand will have dementia.
“In last year’s government budget $12 million was assigned to dementia care with $9 million to mate wareware care, the first time money was allocated specifically towards the illness.”
‘Scary times’
Given the newly passed law to axe the Māori Health Authority, health experts are concerned mate wareware services will not be prioritised this year.
“So in the last budget $12 million, which is not a lot, a drop in the ocean but it was the first time there was money for dementia in the budget so it was a start, hopefully.
“We’ll have to wait and see how much is going to be made available for this particular service so it’s just a matter of waiting and seeing, so it’s kind of scary times,” Makarena says.
Both partners are inviting Te Tai Tokerau people (Ngāpuhi) to participate in their research to help them provide accurate data to improve care for Māori with mate wareware.