Type 2 diabetes is a significant public health problem for Maori and Pasifika communities in Queensland who are experiencing a higher burden of morbidity and mortality from the disease. Despite this higher burden there are few initiatives that are culturally tailored to improve prevention and management. The Pasifika Women’s Diabetes Wellness Program (PWDWP) was culturally co-designed and developed with Maori and Pasifika women with type 2 diabetes living in Queensland through a community-academia partnership between Pasifika Women’s Alliance Inc (PWA) and Menzies Health Institute Queensland.
The PWDWP is a 12-week diabetes education intervention aimed at providing virtual access to better prevention and self-management of type 2 diabetes. The program will support the women and their families to manage diabetes and other chronic conditions, lead a healthier lifestyle, provide accurate information on diabetes prevention and self-management, reduce late hospital presentations from diabetes-related complications and improve diabetes-related outcomes.
The PWDWP development was guided by the ‘Pacific Health ‘Fonofale’ model1 to include family culture & spirituality, and integrates a collectivist and whānau-centred (family) approach to self-care. It is designed to be delivered virtually and flexibly by a trained community health worker or nurse, utilising consumer electronic devices (PC, smartphones, tablets). The program can also be provided within community whānau-settings and includes culturally developed educational and self-efficacy tools to teach, encourage, promote and reinforce positive health promoting behaviours such as physical activity, optimal diet, smoking cessation, alcohol reduction, plus strategies for sleep, stress and menopausal symptom management based on latest evidence.
We present the co-development of the diabetes wellness program and describe the importance of community participatory engagement processes using respectful and culturally safe Pacific Indigenous approaches. Furthermore, we discuss how effective partnerships can guide and enhance diabetes research and health outcomes for Maori and Pasifika peoples through community protocols and traditional knowledge.