When searching for Pacific health information you might need to try a combination of keywords. Useful broad terms might include some of the following: Pacific, Pasifika, Pasefika, Oceanic, Oceania, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia. It is often also useful to search specific countries. The ISSG Search Filters Resource has a page on population group filters which includes indigenous populations and Pacific Islanders.
Some of the following databases could be useful -
Health databases
Pacific Health Journals
New Zealand, Pacific, Australasia
Thesis guide locate UC and other theses
Research repositories
AUT Pacific Health Research Centre. Pacific Islands Families Study.
Etu Pasifika. Health, Wellbeing and Whānau Ora services serving Pacific families in the Canterbury Region
Le Va. "Our purpose is to support Pasifika families and communities to unleash their full potential and have the best possible health and wellbeing outcomes."
Moana Vā. " Established to identify and address the needs for mahu, vakasalewa, palopa, fa'afafine, akava'ine, fakeleiti, fakafifine communities in the Canterbury region.
Tangata Atumotu Trust Delivering health and social services in Christchurch for over 20 years.
Vaka Tautua Canterbury. " A 'by Pacific, for Pacific' mental health, disability and social services provider.
Statistics can be found on a range of Government webpages including, Statistics New Zealand and the Ministry of Health.
Figure.nz is a useful source of NZ statistics cumulated from a range of sources. See also the separate subject guide for New Zealand statistical resources
Most books on traditional health and medicine and ethnobotany are listed by individual countries though some are listed under Oceania or Polynesia. To find them, do a Subject begins with search on these topics and scroll through the list of countries or regions:
These subject headings are also useful:
Consortium of Pacific Herbaria. Supporting databasing, digitization and data sharing of plant specimens.
For information on Covid19 for Pasifika communities, see the Government's Covid19 website.
This resource from USP also has information in multiple languages.
Fonofale Model From Fuimaono Karl Pulotu-Endemann (see appendix to the report for the model). More information is in this powerpoint.
Fonua: A Pasifika Model for Health Promotion by Sione Tu'itahi. The original powerpoint by the author is not currently available.
Ola Lei by Tufoua Panapa (Tuvalu)
Towards indigenous policy and practice: A Tuvaluan famework for wellbeing, Ola Lei. / by Tufoua Panapa et al. The Journal of the Polynesian Society 130(1), 2021
Te Vaka Atafaga: A Tokelau assessment model for supporting holistic mental health practice with Tokelau people in Aotearoa, New Zealand/ by Kupa Kupa. Pacific Health Dialog 15(1), 2009
Uputātua Therapeutic Approach. Seiuli, B. M. S. (2013). Counselling psychology from a Samoan perspective. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 42(3), 50-58
Health Research Council of New Zealand. Pacific Health Research Guidelines. (2014).
Lovo, E., Woodward, L., Larkins, S., Preston, R., & Baba, U. N. (2021). Indigenous knowledge around the ethics of human research from the Oceania region: A scoping literature review. Philosophy, Ethics and Humanities in Medicine, 16(1), 12-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13010-021-00108-8
Books on Pacific health:
Also search the catalogue using health and the name of a country.
Bibliographies
Journals
New Zealand Government
Some key documents:
Health Research Council (HRC)
The Manalagi Project. Enhancing the mana of Pacific Rainbow LGBTQIA+ MVPFAFF+ communities in Aotearoa New Zealand through research.
Ministry of Social Development
- see Pacific peoples for publications
Pasefika Proud
- have links to reports on a very wide range of wellbeing issues for many Pasifika communities in Aotearoa.
Te Whatu Ora: Health New Zealand
-see the Canterbury site here: Community & Public Health Canterbury Pacific Health & Wellbeing
Other organisations and other sources of information
Pacific Research (University of Auckland)
New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse searchable database of resources relating to family violence
Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand Provides information and resources to those working in health promotion. Includes a section on Pacific health resources.
Ryan D., Grey C., Mischewski B. (2019). Tofa Saili: A review of evidence about health equity for Pacific Peoples in New Zealand. Pacific Perspectives.
Bibliographies
These two works provide a comprehensive introduction to the literature on Pasifika mental health:
To find individual articles from the bibliographies, copy the titles into Multisearch and follow the links. Contact me if you have difficulty accessing any.
Reports
Pacific Mental Health Models
See the box above for more Pacific health models.
Organisations and Government Departments
Other Resources
Personal evidence from Pacific people given to the Royal Commission can be listened to online:
Public hearings: Tulou: Our Pacific voices: Tatala e Pulonga.
Warning: Much of the content presented at the hearing covers details of abuse that may raise difficult emotional issues.
Use Multisearch - it searches across a range of library resources. Give it a go below.
For friendly, specialist help with finding health information, contact Margaret Paterson the Health Sciences Subject Librarian.