Our health system has, at its centre, the concept of being patient-centred.  While not denying that health is about improving the health and wellbeing of people, maybe it is not the patient that needs to be at the centre of our thinking and our models of care. In Mātauranga Māori and in Systems Thinking, the individual does not exist in isolation of their context.  While both perspectives have different ways of describing this context, they both agree that to really help ‘patients’, we need to have much richer concepts driving our work that simply to be 'patient-centred'. 

In this seminar David and Ihi will share with you their experiences in bringing together the combined wisdoms of the System Sciences and Mātauranga Māori. With initial funding from the Johns Hopkins Global Obesity Centre they have worked in a number of communities and schools to explore health and wellbeing through the combined lenses of Mātauranga Māori and Systems Thinking. 

David and Ihi will talk about the work they have done, the links between Mātauranga Māori, and the System Sciences, what they have learnt in applying both in different contexts and the practical insights they can provide for those trying to improve the practice and outcomes of health services in New Zealand.