Systems Thinking and indigenous systems: native contributions to obesity prevention

Workshops and discussions with Maori people in two communities, a rural school and a community group.

This research aimed to bridge the gap between Indigenous and western views of health. The western system is individual or person-centred, and does not translate well into a Maori worldview which sees health as part of a wider network of community and relationships. Systems Thinking was used as a research method and it is a possible bridge between the two worldviews of health.

Initial meetings with the communities to hear about the health issues that were important to them. The research model was developed based on respect for Maori worldviews, and was used to analyse, reflect and provide new insights on health within the communities.

Change occurs when the structure, here meaning patterns of relationships, change. In this research obesity was not seen as just an individual issue, it was also a structural issue as it reflected those Maori who were isolated from their cultural and historical roots. Reconnecting to those roots was the key to improving individual and community health.

Causal loop diagrams (CLDs)

The research encouraged the Maori communities to value and trust their unique ways of tackling health issues, and it helped to create an obesity strategy across a region.

"It is in this focus on relationships and the meanings attributed to these relationships that we see common ground linking Systems Thinking and indigenous Māori knowledge. They are two different bodies of knowledge, each with a long social and cultural history, but their commonalities, we believe, provide the opportunity to support and enrich each other." (p. 2)

"… the approach also developed models that provided the communities with a mirror that they could use to reflect on what they were doing and thereby modify it." (p. 9)

Health