October 27, 2016
Research critical to reform credibility
The new pou of Wai Research says the unit will have an important role telling Te Whanau o Waipareira whether it is making a difference.
Professor Sir Mason Durie was given the patron’s role at a ceremony in west Auckland yesterday.
He says initiatives like Whanau Ora depend on good data and being able to show they are effective.
Government funding agencies are more comfortable measuring economic or physical differences, but miss factors that can change lives over the medium to long term.
"It’s not so easy to know whether you are making a difference when you are helping a family for example to build resiliance. It's not that there aren't measures. There are measures that are being developed, but they are at an early stage," Sir Mason says.
Wai Research yesterday released reports on what west Auckland whanau think child well-being looks like, and a literature review of Kaupapa Maori models of Psychological Therapy and Mental Health Services.
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