A new partnership: welcoming The Cause Collective as our new Pacific Project host

We are delighted to announce our new partnership with The Cause Collective (TCC) as the new host for our Pacific project and team led by Dr Ofa Dewes.

Originally our project planned to be solely focused on the Tongan community in Auckland. As the project has progressed it has expanded to a more Pan-Pacific approach as reflected in our recently completed Phase One of the project.

The outcomes of this study have been shared with our broader research programme team and reflect this Pan-Pacific approach. As we plan for our next stage of research, our relationships with our study participants have illustrated the need for us to consider the broader range of supports, beyond the clinical environment, that people draw upon to manage their long-term health conditions.

The Cause Collective is a natural partner to support these aspirations as we move into a phase of developing new mechanisms for supporting transformative change in how people manage a long-term condition. We will work closely with Mr Tapuvakai Vea, the General Manager - Healthy and Thriving Families and Communities and we have the support of CEO Leasiosiofaasisina Rachel Enosa, TCC Board, and TCC Social Services and Clinical lead teams who will be involved in our broader discussions.

Dr Dewes has a long relationship with many of the leadership team at TCC and they are excited to have her and the project’s Research Fellow Malia Tagatanu’u and Research Assistant Lina Seve join the team.

Members of the broad Programme team, including Leigh Hale, are looking forward to visiting TCC in November to work toward building a strong research relationship. In return, we look forward to welcoming members of TCC team to our programme whānau over the next three years.

We are excited about TCC’s connections across the motu with other Pacific providers and hope that the positive outcomes from this project can then be shared more widely to best serve our Pacific communities.

We thank Tongan Health Society Inc for their contribution to our programme in the first two years of operations.

Pictured: Ofa, Malia and Lina at their official welcome to The Cause Collective