New research sheds light on Maori and youth view of tech in health

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Northland DHB-commissioned research found that information technologies play an important role in reducing barriers to perinatal care, but that this needs to be alongside face-to-face contact.

New research has shed light on Māori and youth perceptions of health technologies within maternal and child care services at Northland District Health Board.

The research, Telehealth: Rethinking health literacy and engagement with Māori mothers, found that “information technologies play an important role in reducing barriers to perinatal care”.

The study focused on kaupapa Māori perinatal health services at Northland DHB and involved four focus group discussions. It recommends providers continue using and promoting existing digital tools but work on improving their content and delivery.

Recommendations include providing a ‘share’ or email option on online resources, ensuring information is diverse, using technology alongside in-person appointments, and upskilling staff so they can endorse credible information sources and help patients use them.

Northland DHB manager service improvement and development Jacqui Westren says the board commissioned the research because it is looking at better ways to engage with its youth and Māori populations.

The work is part of a wider strategy called Fit for Life, which focuses on how the DHB could improve health literacy around nutrition and physical activity in the maternal/child health space.

Maternity and child health services have traditionally produced pamphlets on these themes, but Westren says feedback from consumers is that they do not like or read them.

“We know young people don’t want pieces of paper, they want information that’s immediate and doesn’t cost a lot,” she says.

“It’s about making things in a way that appeals visually to young people and so they feel they own it, because we know really good stuff happens when you create a forum where people can share information about being pregnant and having babies,” says Westren.

The DHB is already moving towards digital delivery of information through the use of its Facebook page and the co-production of YouTube videos, including one in te reo subtitled in English.

“We need to be a lot more receptive and responsive to how to communicate with young people more effectively using the media that appeal, that they can use and that they have access to,” Westren says.

The study found that the participants were already using a range of technologies to access health information, and that they tended to share the information collected with friends and whānau.

Barriers were around people’s experience of technology, slow internet connections and some privacy concerns.

The researcher, Norina Gasteiger, a student at Auckland University's School of Population Health, says a key message was that the participants did not want digital channels to replace any face-to-face contact.

“Having that physical interaction and being able to feel that energy flow was hugely valued, so in this space I wouldn’t recommend having meetings through technologies,” she says.

PROJECT CONTACT: To find out more about this project please email Norina Gasteiger

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