The purpose of this report was to identify what works to support wellbeing in the first thousand days from a Te Ao Māori (Māori world view) perspective. Whilst this report provides insights into Māori perspectives of tamariki wellbeing, it is uniquely focused on the review of exemplar initiatives that are grounded in Te Ao Māori. Tamariki Māori wellbeing outcomes are much worse than the population average, and the gaps have been persistent despite widespread acknowledgement that they exist. This report is an opportunity to highlight initiatives that are currently working for Māori, to inform policy, enabling responsive systematic change for tamariki Māori to flourish.

To help eliminate inequity in health outcomes for Māori we need a more holistic and culturally responsive health system. The aim of this research is to determine the wider health needs of two priority groups: 1) Māori mothers and 2) Māori with chronic disease. We will use a co-design methodology to firstly understand the health concerns of the two groups and then develop culturally appropriate supportive care needs assessment tools for use by Waikato Health Board staff. We will then trial the assessment tools on our target groups of new Māori mothers and Māori patients with chronic diseases before then co-designing interventions to reduce the known health inequities. This research will impact at many levels including DHB management, staff, community-based agencies as well as patients and whanau. It will also provide a framework for the Ministry of Health, other DHBs and other agencies tackling the health equity gap.