Clinical insights from research with New Zealand Māori

Abstract

There are many challenges facing Māori families who require speech-language pathology services and the speech-language pathologists who work with them. This article offers practical suggestions for clinical practice, gained from undertaking qualitative kaupapa Māori research (research undertaken within a Māori world-view) with Māori families with communication disorders in New Zealand. The focus of the article is not on the findings of the research but on the research practices that could also be applied in clinical practice. These include the centrality of relationships, being decolonising and transformative, and listening to clients’ stories. While they will not resolve all inequities in service provision for Māori, when applied to clinical practice these promise to be a step in the right direction.