Kia Ora Hauora National

02/09/2026

For World Alzheimer’s Month, we’re taking a look at mate wareware through a te ao Māori lens. Swipe through to learn with us 👉💜

For some Māori, mate wareware can be understood through wairua, whakapapa and connection to tīpuna, alongside the clinical understanding of dementia. And that perspective = matters. How we understand hauora shapes how we care for people, how we support whānau, and what we recognise as important along the way 🌿

Source: Dudley et al. (2019), Mate wareware: Understanding ‘dementia’ from a Māori perspective.

01/09/2026

Is pharmacy possibly one of the most underrated health pathways? 🤔 We asked our tauira what made them choose pharmacy and the answers are very (unsurprisingly) wholesome 🥹🤞

01/09/2026

Out today! 🎉 Meet Mauritau, a new journal bringing mātauranga Māori and Western psychology together 📖✨

Created by clinical psychologist Dr Jessica Gerbic (Ngāti Pūkenga, Ngāti Pikiao) 🌿, 'Mauritau: A Journal to Find Balance with the 12 States of Mauri' helps you recognise and understand the natural ups and downs of your wellbeing ⚡🧘.

Instead of treating wellbeing as just an individual thing, it looks at balance across mind, body, spirit, environment and whānau 🤍, proving clinical psychology and mātauranga Māori don't have to sit apart, they can work together.

If you're studying health, or thinking about it, this is a great example of culturally grounded practice in action 👀 The health workforce needs people who can hold both worlds, and that's exactly the kind of mahi we want to see more of 🤝💜

Read more here 📚 : https://waateanews.com/2026/08/31/mauritau-new-maori-wellbeing-journal-brings-matauranga-and-psychology-together/

31/08/2026

The Māori medical workforce is growing, and fast 📈 New data from Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | Medical Council of New Zealand shows the number of Māori doctors grew from 1,053 to 1,125 this year alone, now making up 5.8% of the workforce. Even better? Half of all Māori doctors are 34 or younger 🙌

That means there's never been a better time to think about a career in medicine. The workforce is younger, more diverse and still growing, and there's space for you in it 💜

Check out the full breakdown here:

The number of practising doctors increased by 2.8 percent over the past year, from 20,530 to 21,097. Over the past five years, the workforce has grown by 15.6 percent, from 18,247 doctors in 2021.

28/08/2026

Rural healthcare has a few extra hurdles to clear 🚗💚 When the closest service is an hour away, a “quick appointment” can suddenly mean petrol, time off mahi, organising the kids and half a day gone. And when getting care becomes harder, it can also become easier to put off.

That’s what makes the Waimarino Health Centre redevelopment in Raetihi such a meaningful step for the community. More services closer to home, all in one place, and hopefully a much easier journey from “I need help” to actually getting it.

Pretty cool to see years of community advocacy getting to this point 👏 Have a read via Waatea News 🔗

26/08/2026

Ever thought about how mental health care could look with te ao Māori at the centre? 🧠💭 Māori psychiatrists in Aotearoa are doing exactly that, blending specialist medical training with whakapapa, tikanga and whānau-centred care. Leaders like Professor Hinemoa Elder, Dr Rees Tapsell and Dr Diana Kopua are proving that science and mātauranga Māori can work together, not compete 🤝

The best part? Cultural safety isn't decided by the doctor, it's decided by the patient and their whānau. That's a pretty powerful shift 💜

If this sounds like the kind of mahi you could see yourself doing, psychiatry (and health more broadly) needs more Māori voices in the room. Check out the full story below 👇

https://waateanews.com/2026/08/26/more-than-a-diagnosis-maori-psychiatrists-bringing-te-ao-maori-into-mental-health-care/

24/08/2026

The future of hauora is obviously in veryyyy capable hands 🙂‍↕️ (Reminder to not take yourself too seriously and have some fun in between study sessions 😚)

24/08/2026

New research is challenging the way health professionals talk about food with Māori, and it's a good reminder for all of us. Led by Massey University's Dr Nikki Renall, the study found that kai is about far more than calories and nutrients, it's deeply tied to culture, whakapapa, whānau, whenua and wellbeing.

The research shows that values like manaakitanga, sharing and avoiding waste have stayed strong despite colonisation, urbanisation and environmental change reshaping what's actually on the table. The key message: before asking what someone eats, it's worth asking what kai means to them. That's how health advice becomes something people can actually sustain, not just follow for a few weeks.

Read the full story here:

New research is challenging health professionals to rethink the way they talk about food with Māori, finding kai is about far more than calories, nutrients and disease prevention — it […]

20/08/2026

So you wanna study physiooooo 👀 Here's some insight, straight from the tauira that are currently living, laughing, loving it x

19/08/2026

Here are a few things we're officially not romanticising anymore 🙂‍↔️ Because your future in hauora shouldn't come at the expense of your own 🙅🏽

Which bad habit are you breaking up with this semester? 👀💔👇