For many Māori, it is the presence of their kin that transforms a dwelling into a home. However, when that dwelling needs repairs, it can compromise health and wellbeing and be a barrier to homemaking. Two Kaupapa Māori qualitative studies in Hawke’s Bay interviewed 24 whānau members living in 18 whānau-owned houses about the impact of government-funded critical house repairs. Thematic analysis highlighted that critical repairs were primarily needed as a result of financial hardship. Most participants were positive about the repair work done by Māori tradespeople.

Supporting equitable healthcare outcomes in Aotearoa New Zealand requires urgent attention. Several models of Māori health and wellbeing introduce elements and strategies that may be central to adjustment to chronic illness. This article conducts a literature review of Māori health and wellbeing models and best practice guidelines to identify what Māori see as central to illness adjustment and determine practical strategies to inform better practice in the context of chronic illness. Two overarching themes were identified as central to the adjustment process: dimensions of health and wellbeing, and whanaungatanga.

Maori children are uplifted by the New Zealand government at disproportionate rates compared with tauiwi children. The removal of tamariki from culturally embedded networks exacerbates intergenerational trauma created by colonisation. Placements into unsafe contexts mean that additional instances of harm and cumulative trauma are common, and tamaiti atawhai are not positioned within fullness of their cultural being. This article draws on a broader Kaupapa Māori project involving semistructured interviews with kaiāwhina Māori across the North Island.

The effects of the COVID-19 lockdown and physical distancing were broad, impacting multiple sectors, particularly health, for Māori and Indigenous peoples. This situation report considers health and well-being using Te Whare Tapa Whā, and looks at the experiences and voices of kuia and koroheke—considered to be at high risk of contracting coronavirus—to better understand their health and well-being impacts from physical distancing. This report then reflects on these experiences to identify how help groups can best support communities in future lockdown situations.

Lifecourse research examines people’s trajectories through life and factors that influence those trajectories. It has the potential to build an evidence base around programmes that are effective for Māori. This paper describes the development and initial stages of Te Kura Mai i Tawhiti (TKMT), an innovative long-term research programme run as a collaboration between Taranaki Māori community organisation Te Pou Tiringa and the University of Otago’s National Centre for Lifecourse Research. The research aim is to examine the transformative power that quality Kaupapa Mäori early life and whänau programmes have on whānau health, wellbeing and educational outcomes.

Rights-based approaches to health in Aotearoa New Zealand have increased in recent years. However, dominant Westernised conceptualisations of rights have been criticised for their ties to colonialism and individualistic focus. This paper presents Oranga Mokopuna as an alternative which disrupts Western notions of rights that are assumed to have universal application. Based in Te Ao Māori, Oranga Mokopuna provides a conceptual frame of reference for the realisation of tāngata whenua rights to health and wellbeing.

Māori directly or indirectly experience disability at a higher rate than any other population group in Aotearoa New Zealand. Despite one in three Māori having some form of disability, Māori have less access to support and health and disability services. Currently, gaps exist in knowledge related to Māori and disability, and this is not helped by disabled Māori being excluded from health and disability policy and service planning forums. With regard to disability frameworks, the medical model and the social model are the predominant northern hemisphere approaches to working with disabled persons.