Cultural and co-designed principles for developing a Māori kaumātua housing village to address health and social wellbeing

• Main Authors: John G. Oetzel (Author), Corey Bragg (Author), Yvonne Wilson (Author), Rangimahora Reddy (Author), Mary Louisa Simpson (Author), Sophie Nock (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: BMC, 2024-05-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.1186/s12889-024-18771-9; 1471-2458
• Keywords: Māori worldview; Housing; Participatory research; Health and wellbeing; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: BMC Public Health, Vol 24, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2024)

Abstract Background The current study is a case study of a Māori (Indigenous people of New Zealand) organisation and their developmental processes in creating a kaumātua (older people) housing village for health and social wellbeing. This study identifies how a set of established co-design and culturally-centred principles were enacted when creating and developing the village. Method A mixed-method concurrent design was used in creating the case with interviews (n = 4), focus groups (N = 4 with 16 total participants) and survey questionnaires (n = 56) involving kaumātua and organisation members. Results Survey results illustrate that suitable and affordable housing are associated with self-rated health, loneliness, and life satisfaction. The primary purpose of the housing village was to enable kaumātua to be connected to the marae (community meeting house) as part of a larger vision of developing intergenerational housing around the marae to enhance wellbeing. Further, key themes around visioning, collaborative team and funding, leadership, fit-for-purpose design, and tenancy management were grounded in cultural elements using te ao Māori (Māori worldview). Conclusion This case study illustrates several co-design and culturally-centred principles from a previously developed toolkit that supported the project. This case study demonstrates how one community enacted these principles to provide the ground for developing a housing project that meets the health and social wellbeing of kaumātua.