Phase Three: National Hui

This hui brought together people from across health, Māori health, spiritual care, faith and community settings to hear findings from the project across five healthcare settings (hospitals, hospices, aged residential care, primary care, and Hauora Māori) and to consider change from downstream care experiences, through midstream organisational systems, to upstream policy, funding and governance.

The hui highlighted that spiritual, religious and wairua care already occur through relationships, listening, tikanga, prayer, ritual, whānau and community support. However, access remains uneven and is often hindered by unclear referral pathways, limited workforce capability, fragile funding and, in some settings, unclear organisational responsibility.

Our next steps are to review the provisional synthesis with hui participants, retain Māori-led authority over interpretation of wairua-related material and mātauranga Māori, address voices not yet adequately represented, and refine a practical set of recommendations. Various outputs, including journal articles and a discussion paper will be developed.