Project leads visits

Part of our first year has been spent building and strengthening our relationships with between the threads or weaves of our Programme community. Our 3 projects and the communities they represent are the core of our Programme Grant. Developing strong links between our projects will be a key to our future strength. As part of this our Project leads, and their teams, have been able to spend time getting to know each other.

Dr. Ofa Dewes (LRC Research Director) and Malia Tagatanuu, (Research Fellow) had the opportunity to attend a field visit hosted by Turanga Health (TH) in Gisborne. They were in the welcoming hands of Dr. Shirley Keown, who organized an eventful day that helped to gain insight into the extraordinary work that TH is responsible for. Unfortunately the weather meant that Brigit Mirfin-Veitch was unable to join the Gisborne visit.

For the Auckland field visit, Langimalie Research Centre welcomed Dr. Brigit Mirfin-Veitch of the University of Otago and Donald Beasley Institute in Dunedin, and Dr. Shirley Keown from Turanga Health in Gisborne. The visits had a chance to meet with Mele Vaka (Clinical Services Manager) and Seini Latu, who provided invaluable information about the Tongan Health Society (THS) and their efforts to enhance health outcomes not only for the Tongan community but also for Pacific communities overall.

The visits were an awesome opportunity to have all project leads of ‘Taunakitanga Takitini: reframing self-management support for all in Aotearoa ’ , present and engage in collaborative, valuable, and insightful discussions around the research project. The next stop is Dunedin and a visit to the Donald Beasley Institute in September!