Pacific student with phoneOur aim is to develop and evaluate a culturally tailored, personalised mobile-phone delivered (mHealth) healthy lifestyle support programme for Māori and Pasifika in New Zealand.

The programme consists of a smartphone app and website co-designed by Toi Tangata, the Fono Health & Social Services, South Waikato Pacific Islands Community Services and staff at three New Zealand universities. The tool allows users to set goals and invite whānau and friends to join users on their journey to achieve positive lifestyle changes. It includes healthy eating and physical activity tools to support behaviour change and provides regular motivational messages and tips.

The programme will be evaluated in a Cluster Randomised Trial. 24 Maori community clusters and 24 Pasifika community clusters will be randomly assigned to either receive the mHealth tool (intervention condition) or a simplified version of the tool which only collects data (control condition). Participants in the intervention clusters will use the tool for 12 weeks and participants in control clusters will be able to use the tool after the 12-week intervention period. The primary outcome will be a self-reported composite health behaviour score at 12 weeks, including smoking, fruit and vegetable intake, alcohol intake, and physical activity. If effective, the tool has the potential to be scaled up and rolled out nationally via primary care providers and communities.

Find out more about the programme:

 

Publications

 

OL@-OR@, a Māori and Pasifika mHealth approach to supporting healthy lifestyles

WellText research team

From left: Leonie Matoe (Toi Tangata), Helen Eyles, Tevita Funaki (Fono), Ridvan Firestone , Andrew Jull, Cliona Ni Mhurchu and Lisa Te Morenga.

 

Science leader and principal investigator:

Co-principal investigators:

Associate investigators:

Community partners:

 

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