$2 Million to tackle heart health inequities
The Heart Foundation and the Healthier Lives National Science Challenge have joined forces to tackle inequities in
health outcomes from cardiovascular disease among Māori and Pacific people.
A $2 million research grant has been awarded to a team led by Dr Corina Grey and Associate Professor Matire Harwood.
The three-year study is the first major programme of its kind in New Zealand. It aims to improve access to healthcare
for Māori and Pacific people, which has the potential to achieve equity in heart health outcomes for all New Zealanders.
The research involves finding out what barriers people face in accessing healthcare and coming up with a plan to reduce
them.
Available approaches to prevention and treatment have the potential to halve the risk of heart disease but Māori and
Pacific people are less likely to receive treatment and more likely to suffer from and die of heart disease than other
New Zealanders. On average, Māori and Pacific people’s lives are seven years shorter than other New Zealanders. Barriers
to accessing healthcare are considered to be important contributors to this.
The researchers will explore how the risk of heart disease is assessed and managed, and what can be done to reduce
delays and improve access to hospital care and post-hospital management of heart disease. They will then develop a
roadmap for health policy makers and providers, which could alter the way healthcare is delivered across primary and
secondary care.
The research team will use kaupapa Māori and Pacific research methodologies for the study’s design, methods and
analysis.
Dr Corina Grey, from the University of Auckland, will co-lead the team of researchers. “This is a total dream project.
We’ve got an amazing team and it’s what we’ve been working towards for such a long time,” she says.
Co-leader Associate Professor Matire Harwood says, “We’re bringing together an excellent team with different expertise,
from GPs to epidemiologists, who have all done a ton of work looking at equity and heart disease. We have the experience
and it’s now time to use that to inform health policy makers and services in New Zealand.”
Healthier Lives Director Professor Jim Mann says, “Healthier Lives is delighted to be partnering with the Heart
Foundation in this joint venture which will help to realise our vision of Aotearoa New Zealand with equitable health
outcomes and a substantially reduced burden of cardiovascular diseases."
“This is an important programme of work from a group of experienced researchers, led by Dr Corina Grey, a current Heart
Foundation Fellow. We look forward to following the research and its impact on improving equity in heart health in
Aotearoa,“ says Gerry Devlin, Medical Director of the Heart Foundation.
Ends