A group of Pacific experts across a range of disciplines focused on children's health and development are motivated to find appropriate strategies to combat the inequities and failings for Pacific children and their families.
The Pasifika B4 School - Child and Family Wellbeing Study will bring together families and teachers from three Pacific early childhood education centres in Auckland with Pacific well child nurses to design and test a child well-being programme.
The three-year study will reframe the B4 School Well Child checks by drawing on families' natural aspirations for children to succeed at school and build on Pacific culture and identity.
Dr Teuila Percival is the lead researcher of the project as well as the director at Moana Research and consultant paediatrician at KidzFirst Middlemore Hospital.
Dr Percival said they are hoping to develop a good, comprehensive well child programme that suits the needs of Pasifika families, to prepare the toddlers and young children for primary school.
In New Zealand, there is already a well-established Well Child Tamariki Ora Programme, which is a free service provided by The Ministry of Health for all New Zealand children from birth to 5 years, and aims to support families to protect and improve their child's health.
There are also B4 School Check led by Plunket, where nurses conduct hearing and vision checks before the children start school.
Dr Percival shared that Pacific children do not get these checks at the same rate as other New Zealand children.
"Some of the tools to check Pasifika children aren't that effective.
"These tools are developed overseas and don't necessarily take into account different things that we think are important for Pacific families like connection and relationships, and being bilingual," she said.
