The aim of the study reported in this article was to explore the experiences of (1) people living with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and their whānau, and (2) kai manaaki, community health workers and dieticians who provide care to Māori and Pacific peoples living with T2D in the community. A key objective for this research was for its findings to inform workforce development strategies that will achieve equity for Māori and Pacific peoples with T2D and other long-term conditions.

Type-2 diabetes and other illnesses associated with a sedentary lifestyle have a high prevalence among Māori. While the application of knowledge from exercise physiology, a specific discipline of the health sciences, could be used to enhance Māori health aspirations, Māori-led research in this field is relatively uncommon. Exercise physiology seeks to understand physical performance and the relationships between fitness, body composition, health and illness. Rarely have the key tenets of exercise physiology been applied to Māori populations.