Abstract:
Exploring Pasifika Mental Health Literacy in Aotearoa New Zealand is a mixed
methods research project led by Sarah Kapeli, an Aotearoa-born Tongan researcher whose
research is underpinned by Pacific knowledges, understandings, and worldviews. Section 1
provides an overview of Pasifika mental health in Aotearoa New Zealand and how it has
evolved over time. It also identifies areas of opportunity across research and strongly
recommends the role of education, particularly mental health literacy, as a way towards
enhancing Pacific mental health and wellbeing outcomes. Section 2 draws upon survey data
from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study. Each study presented in this section
explores an innovative approach to Pacific research by connecting Pacific concepts with
Western survey measures. Demonstrating how to (re)claim sovereignty over our Pacific data
and how this can be carried into the future of Pacific research, particularly around Pasifika
mental health literacy.
Section 3 presents findings from the Pasifika Mental Health in Aotearoa (PMHA)
project, a two-phased project that included the PMHA survey (first phase) and the PMHA etalanoa
(second phase). The PMHA survey explored the understandings, experiences, and
attitudes around mental health literacy for Pasifika in Aotearoa New Zealand – key facets of
mental health literacy as explored in existing research literature. From this, the PMHA report
was developed and includes a descriptive overview of the survey findings. The PMHA
survey also included two vignettes – a Pacific man experiencing depression, and a Pacific
woman experiencing anxiety. Participant responses to the vignettes reflected the gender of
the character presented in the vignette. The patterns of the responses to the vignette
characters guided the direction of the PMHA e-talanoa, which explored common themes that
participants discussed in regard to their perceptions of the vignette characters. Overall, this doctoral research project has provided a steppingstone towards defining
Pasifika mental health literacy and developing a Pasifika mental health literacy framework
for Pasifika in Aotearoa New Zealand – that has the potential to enable, mediate, and
advocate for our Pasifika communities through the cogs of legislation, policy, and practice
informed by research.