Members of the ACCESS research team
This three-year study is the first major programme of its kind in New Zealand and is co-funded by the Heart Foundation and Healthier Lives. It aims to improve access to healthcare for Māori and Pacific people, which has the potential to achieve equity in heart health outcomes for all New Zealanders. The research involves finding out what barriers people face in accessing healthcare and coming up with a plan to reduce them.
Available approaches to prevention and treatment have the potential to halve the risk of heart disease but Māori and Pacific people are less likely to receive treatment and more likely to suffer from and die of heart disease than other New Zealanders. On average, Māori and Pacific people’s lives are seven years shorter than other New Zealanders. Barriers to accessing healthcare are considered to be important contributors to this.
The research team will explore how the risk of heart disease is assessed and managed, and what can be done to reduce delays and improve access to hospital care and post-hospital management of heart disease. They will then develop a roadmap for health policy makers and providers, which could alter the way healthcare is delivered across primary and secondary care.
The team will use kaupapa Māori and Pacific research methodologies for the study’s design, methods and analysis.
ACCESS (Accessing Cardiovascular Care for Equity StudieS)
Science leader and principal investigator:
Co-principal investigator:
Associate investigators:
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