What is Māori Health Promotion
Māori health promotion is the process of enabling Māori to increase control over the determinants of health and strengthen their identity as Māori, thus improving their health and position in society (Ratima, 2001).
To successfully achieve this, Māori health promotion works to strengthen the entire whānau unit and their connection to their culture, to protect the relationship between the people and te taiao (natural environment), and to protect and respect the sanctity of wairuatanga (spiritual connectedness).
Māori health promotion also takes steps to identify and address the wider and often systemic issues that impact on Māori such as income and poverty, employment conditions and biases in the education system.
The Māori health promotion lens is one that looks across all sectors, and seeks to understand the interconnectedness of all things (natural and supernatural) and how they influence the hauora of a person, their whānau and their community.